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Collection:
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NASA Cassini-Huygens Collection
Collection
NASA Cassini-Huygens Collection
Collection
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Title:
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Rough and Tumble Hyperion (Still)
Title
Rough and Tumble Hyperion (Still)
Title
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Description:
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The tumbling and irregularly shaped moon Hyperion hangs before Cassini in this image taken during a distant encounter in Dec. 2005.
description
The tumbling and irregularly shaped moon Hyperion hangs before Cassini in this image taken during a distant encounter in Dec. 2005.
Description
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Full Description:
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The tumbling and irregularly shaped moon Hyperion hangs before Cassini in this image taken during a distant encounter in December 2005. This still image is part of a movie sequence of 40 images taken over about two hours as Cassini sped past the icy moon (see the related movie). Hyperion (280 kilometers, or 174 miles across) is covered with closely packed and deeply etched pits. Scientists originally thought the warming action of the sun on water ice lying beneath a darkened layer of surface material apparently had deepened and exaggerated the depressions already created by impacts. Cassini scientists now think that Hyperion's unusual appearance can be attributed to the fact that it has an unusually low density for such a large object, giving it weak surface gravity and high porosity. These characteristics help preserve the original shapes of Hyperion's craters by limiting the amount of impact ejecta coating the moon's surface. Impactors tend to make craters by compressing the surface material, rather than blasting it out. Further, Hyperion's weak gravity, and correspondingly low escape velocity, means that what little ejecta is produced has a good chance of escaping the moon altogether. The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Dec. 23, 2005, at a distance of 228,000 kilometers (142,000 miles) from Hyperion and at a sun-Hyperion-spacecr aft, or phase, angle of 77 degrees. Resolution in the original image was about 1.4 kilometers (0.9 mile) per pixel. The image was magnified by a factor of two and contrast-enhanced to aid visibility. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging operations center is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.n…. The Cassini imaging team homepage is at http://ciclops.org. *Credit:* NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute
Full_Description
The tumbling and irregularly shaped moon Hyperion hangs before Cassini in this image taken during a distant encounter in December 2005. This still image is part of a movie sequence of 40 images taken over about two hours as Cassini sped past the icy moon (see the related movie). Hyperion (280 kilometers, or 174 miles across) is covered with closely packed and deeply etched pits. Scientists originally thought the warming action of the sun on water ice lying beneath a darkened layer of surface material apparently had deepened and exaggerated the depressions already created by impacts. Cassini scientists now think that Hyperion's unusual appearance can be attributed to the fact that it has an unusually low density for such a large object, giving it weak surface gravity and high porosity. These characteristics help preserve the original shapes of Hyperion's craters by limiting the amount of impact ejecta coating the moon's surface. Impactors tend to make craters by compressing the surface material, rather than blasting it out. Further, Hyperion's weak gravity, and correspondingly low escape velocity, means that what little ejecta is produced has a good chance of escaping the moon altogether. The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Dec. 23, 2005, at a distance of 228,000 kilometers (142,000 miles) from Hyperion and at a sun-Hyperion-spacecr aft, or phase, angle of 77 degrees. Resolution in the original image was about 1.4 kilometers (0.9 mile) per pixel. The image was magnified by a factor of two and contrast-enhanced to aid visibility. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging operations center is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.n…. The Cassini imaging team homepage is at http://ciclops.org. *Credit:* NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute Full Description
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Date:
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February 3, 2006
Date
February 3, 2006
Date
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Keywords:
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Hyperion
keywords
Hyperion
Keywords
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Keywords:
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tumbling
keywords
tumbling
Keywords
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Keywords:
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irregularly shaped
keywords
irregularly shaped
Keywords
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facet_what:
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Saturn
facet_what
Saturn
facet_what
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facet_what:
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Cassini
facet_what
Cassini
facet_what
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facet_what:
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Cassini-Huygens
facet_what
Cassini-Huygens
facet_what
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facet_what:
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Huygens Probe
facet_what
Huygens Probe
facet_what
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facet_what:
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Moon
facet_what
Moon
facet_what
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facet_what:
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Cassini Orbiter
facet_what
Cassini Orbiter
facet_what
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facet_what:
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Sun
facet_what
Sun
facet_what
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facet_what:
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Visible Light
facet_what
Visible Light
facet_what
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facet_where:
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Saturn
facet_where
Saturn
facet_where
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facet_where:
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Jet Propulsion Laboratory
facet_where
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
facet_where
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facet_where:
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California
facet_where
California
facet_where
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facet_where:
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Washington
facet_where
Washington
facet_where
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facet_where:
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Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)
facet_where
Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)
facet_where
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facet_where:
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Washington, D.C.
facet_where
Washington, D.C.
facet_where
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facet_when:
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December 2005
facet_when
December 2005
facet_when
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facet_when:
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February 3, 2006
facet_when
February 3, 2006
facet_when
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facet_when_year:
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2006
facet_when_year
2006
facet_when_year
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facet_when_year:
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2005
facet_when_year
2005
facet_when_year
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UID:
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SPD-SATRN-1979
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original url:
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original_url
original url
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