“Death Star”

“That’s no moon,” says Jedi knight Obi-Wan Kenobi in “Star Wars” when the Empire’s deadly space station appears in the distance. Tethys, one of Saturn’s larger icy moons, has earned the nickname “Death Star” moon because of its striking resemblance to the floating fortress. The similarities are due to the enormous crater, Odysseus, and its complex of central peaks.

Like any moon, Tethys (660 miles across) has suffered many impacts that have shaped its surface. In this case, a large impact not only created a crater known, but the rebound of the collision caused the mountainous peaks, named Scheria Montes, to form in the center of the crater.

NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSI