The Strange Hyperion

[asian1]

From Sydney Morning Herald:
IT looks like a giant sea sponge floating chaotically around Saturn. NASA scientists are very curious about the latest images of Saturn's moon Hyperion, taken by the Cassini spacecraft on September 26. Hyperion not only has the most unusual shape of any satellite ever seen. It also has a weird, spongy-looking surface and mysterious dark-floored craters. One theory is that it might have blown apart in a collision, causing its wobbly orbit. Measuring 266km across, Hyperion has a notably reddish tint. Differences in colour could represent differences in the composition of surface materials. The red colour was toned down in this false-colour view, and the other hues were enhanced, in order to make more subtle colour variations across Hyperion's surface more apparent. Scientists will be trying to determine whether there have been multiple episodes of landslides.
Such "downslope" movement is evident in the filling of craters with debris and the near elimination of many craters along the steeper slopes. Answers to these questions may help solve the mystery of why Hyperion has evolved so differently to Saturn's 33 other satellites.

[PMC]

Hmmm... It's spongy, red & white, roughly spherical and it's called Hyperion.

Now how's that for an advertising coup?

PMC wrote:
Hmmm... It's spongy, red & white, roughly spherical and it's called Hyperion.

Now how's that for an advertising coup?

That adds a whole new meaning to "Amiga Anywhere". ;-)

[Karlos]

PMC wrote:
Hmmm... It's spongy, red & white, roughly spherical and it's called Hyperion.

Now how's that for an advertising coup?

Careful, Hoagland will be all over the idea :lol:

[T_Bone]

PMC wrote:
Hmmm... It's spongy, red & white, roughly spherical and it's called Hyperion.

Now how's that for an advertising coup?

How long is the solar year there? When it's done?  :-P

[blobrana]

Mmmmm,
Hyperion’s Saturnine year is just over 21 days…
(Saturn of course takes over 29 Earth Years to go round the Sun).

Incidentally the Cassini spacecraft captured one of the best images of its mission just a few days ago.
Dione eclipsing Saturn's moon Rhea.
IMAGE (88kb)

In the animation, the distance between Dione and Rhea was roughly 330,000 kilometres.