In 2010, while aiming to discover if a change in Mimas' orbit could have caused the Cassini division, the team noticed a strange shift in both the moon's rotation and its orbit.

Because Mimas is losing heat as its orbit becomes less eccentric over time, refreezing — which is only just beginning on Mimas — will cause the overlying ice to crack.

Because Mimas is losing heat as its orbit becomes less eccentric over time, refreezing — which is only just beginning on Mimas — will cause the overlying ice to crack.

An artist's illustration depicts Mimas in orbit around Saturn. The small moon resembles the Death Star from "Star Wars" films, thanks to a massive crater.

With Mimas now in a relatively calm orbit, it may not currently experience enough tidal interactions to sustain its ocean. Lainey says Mimas’ interior may begin to freeze again, never having a ...

Saturn’s moon Mimas appears to have a vast global ocean underneath its icy shell, according to close measurements of its orbit. If other icy worlds have similar oceans, it could increase the ...

Of Saturn's seven major moons, Mimas orbits closest to the planet, taking less than a day to complete an orbit. It's also the smallest of the major moons, with a diameter of just under 400 ...

Hidden depths. Slight changes in the orbit of Saturn’s moon Mimas hint at the presence of a vast, young ocean beneath the satellite’s icy surface that may have formed between 5 million and 50 ...

Saturn's moon Mimas harbors a global ocean beneath its icy shell, discovered through analysis of its orbit by Cassini spacecraft data. This ocean formed just 5-15 million years ago, making Mimas a ...

The French-led team analyzed changes in Mimas’ orbit and rotation and reported Wednesday that a hidden ocean 12 to 18 miles (20 to 30 kilometers) beneath the frozen crust was more likely than an ...