Hyperion: Sponge Moon of Saturn
Explanation:
Why is Saturn's moon Hyperion textured like a sponge?
Recent high-resolution images from the
robot Cassini spacecraft orbiting
Saturn show
Hyperion
to be an even stranger place than thought before.
Previously, it was known that the length of a day on
Hyperion is unpredictable.
The moon's highly
elliptical orbit around Saturn, its highly non-spherical shape,
and its locked 4:3
orbital resonance with
Titan torque Hyperion around so much it is hard to predict
when the Sun will rise next.
The
newly imaged craters on the unusually coarse surface
are surely the result of impacts, but for some reason have dark centers.
The low density of
Hyperion indicates it might even be a
spelunker's paradise, riddled with tremendous caverns.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
