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I have always said the most outstanding view in the whole Solar System must be of Saturn from the surface of its inner-most moon, Mimas. This is the view you would have of the famed ringed planet if you were standing at 88 degrees N latitude near the moons Northern pole. Mimas has a gravitationally-locked synchronous orbit with Saturn so the planet stays in the same location in the Mimantean sky, but due to a slight inclination of the orbit of Mimas, Saturn would appear to “wobble” giving an outstanding view above, then below Saturn’s ring system. From the surface of Mimas, Saturn’s rings would span more than 94 degrees (more than half) of the sky. I tried to match the best I could the orientation of Saturn, the Sun, all the resulting shadows, and even the Milky Way. Titan can be seen under the rings to the left of Saturn.
I used Sienna’s Starry Night Pro astronomy software to precisely determine many of the orientations found in this image. Vue was used to render the heavily cratered surface of Mimas. The planetary texture for Saturn was created by me in Photoshop and can be found here: Saturn Planetary Texture . I created the rings entirely in Photoshop using a pattern acquired from a high resolution Cassini image. I also used an actual image of the Milky Way produced by the European Southern Observatory (ESO) which can be found here: commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fil…
Comments are most welcome...
If you were standing on Mimas, one of Saturn's moons, the view of Saturn would be absolutely breathtaking. Here’s what you might experience:
1. Saturn’s Massive Presence
Saturn would dominate the sky: Since Mimas orbits Saturn at an average distance of about 185,520 km (115,000 miles), the planet would appear immensely large, filling a huge portion of the sky.
The rings of Saturn would be clearly visible and stretch across the sky in a stunning display.
2. Shadows and Illumination
Mimas is tidally locked, meaning one side always faces Saturn. This means that if you were on the Saturn-facing side, you’d always see Saturn in the sky.
The rings could cast shadows on Saturn, adding depth to the view.
3. The Surface of Mimas
Mimas has a heavily cratered surface, and the most famous feature is Herschel Crater, which makes Mimas look like the "Death Star."
The weak gravity (about 1/40th of Earth's gravity) would make movement feel very light.
4. Saturn’s Atmosphere and Storms
You would see Saturn’s swirling clouds and storms, including possibly the hexagonal storm at the north pole (depending on your viewing angle).
Saturn’s color would be a mix of pale yellows, golds, and browns.
5. The Night Sky
Since Mimas has no atmosphere, the sky would be completely black, even in daylight.
Other moons of Saturn might be visible as bright dots moving across the sky over time.
Would you like a visual simulation of this view?