On Sept. 17, 1789, the British astronomer William Herschel discovered Saturn's "Death Star" moon, Mimas.
Of course, "Star Wars" wasn't a thing at the time, and no one had ever heard of something called a "Death Star." But there's no denying that this moon looks just like it. Anyway, Herschel was a guy who liked to build telescopes and discover things, like the planet Uranus, tiny moons around Jupiter and Saturn, and other stuff out there in space. Shortly after he invented a huge new kind of reflecting telescope called the Herschelian telescope, he spotted Mimas orbiting Saturn. Mimas is super tiny with a diameter of less than 250 miles. It is the smallest known spherical body in space that is held together by self-gravitation.
Of course, "Star Wars" wasn't a thing at the time, and no one had ever heard of something called a "Death Star." But there's no denying that this moon looks just like it. Anyway, Herschel was a guy who liked to build telescopes and discover things, like the planet Uranus, tiny moons around Jupiter and Saturn, and other stuff out there in space. Shortly after he invented a huge new kind of reflecting telescope called the Herschelian telescope, he spotted Mimas orbiting Saturn. Mimas is super tiny with a diameter of less than 250 miles. It is the smallest known spherical body in space that is held together by self-gravitation.
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TechTranscript
00:00 On this day in space.
00:03 In 1789, the British astronomer William Herschel discovered Saturn's Death Star Moon, Mimas.
00:10 Of course, Star Wars wasn't a thing at the time, and no one had ever heard of something called a Death Star.
00:15 But there's no denying that this moon looks just like it.
00:18 Anyway, Herschel was a guy who liked to build telescopes and discover things,
00:22 like the planet Uranus, tiny moons around Jupiter and Saturn, and other stuff out there in space.
00:27 Shortly after he invented a huge new kind of reflecting telescope called the Herschelian telescope,
00:31 he spotted Mimas orbiting Saturn.
00:34 Mimas is a super tiny moon with a diameter of less than 250 miles.
00:38 It is the smallest known spherical body in space that is held together by self-gravitation.
00:43 And that's what happened on this day in space.
00:47 (Electronic Sounds of Data)