Before I decided to go into music education and game journalism, I was pretty set on being some kind of astronomer or engineer. Astronomy has amazed me since I was a toddler, and I’m ridiculously giddy that this little post came up.
The Cassini spacecraft, currently orbiting Saturn, mapped out the temperature across the surface of Mimas, the moon famously known for its massive Herschel Crater, using the craft’s infrared spectrometer. Rather than finding a gradual change in temperature based on how far each region had rotated into the sunlight, scientist found a baffling, distinct separation in temperatures. The side that had only just entered the sunlight (or “morning” on Mimas) showed the warmest readings, while a smaller spot of warmth was found near Herschel, resulting in a temperature map that resembled the iconic Pac-Man character.
Paul Helfenstein, a member of Cassini’s imaging team, noted that the process behind this finding is not unique to Mimas. Thus, there is hope that we may yet find Mrs. Pac-Man nearby.
