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Astronomy Picture of the Day -- Saturn's Hyperion: A Moon with Odd Craters
NASA ^ | June 30, 2013 | (see photo credit)

Posted on 06/30/2013 9:00:49 PM PDT by SunkenCiv

Explanation: What lies at the bottom of Hyperion's strange craters? Nobody's sure. To help find out, the robot Cassini spacecraft now orbiting Saturn swooped past the sponge-textured moon in 2005 and 2010 and took images of unprecedented detail. An image from the 2005 pass, shown above in false color, shows a remarkable world strewn with strange craters and a generally odd surface. The slight differences in color likely show differences in surface composition. At the bottom of most craters lies some type of unknown dark material. Inspection of the image shows bright features indicating that the dark material might be only tens of meters thick in some places. Hyperion is about 250 kilometers across, rotates chaotically, and has a density so low that it might house a vast system of caverns inside.

June 30, 2013

(Excerpt) Read more at 129.164.179.22 ...


TOPICS: Astronomy; Astronomy Picture of the Day; Science
KEYWORDS: apod; astronomy; hyperion; science
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[Credit & Copyright: Cassini Imaging Team, SSI, JPL, ESA, NASA]

1 posted on 06/30/2013 9:00:49 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
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To: brytlea; cripplecreek; decimon; bigheadfred; KoRn; Grammy; married21; steelyourfaith; Mmogamer; ...

One of my favorite bodies.
The Big One

2 posted on 06/30/2013 9:01:45 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (McCain or Romney would have been worse, if you're a dumb ass.)
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To: SunkenCiv

Looks like a giant cinder


3 posted on 06/30/2013 9:03:18 PM PDT by Roccus
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To: Roccus
Alcindor?

I see no resemblance...

4 posted on 06/30/2013 9:12:13 PM PDT by null and void (Republicans create the tools of oppression, and the democrats gleefully use them!)
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To: SunkenCiv

Looks like my bath sponge.


5 posted on 06/30/2013 9:14:44 PM PDT by bimboeruption (Clinging to my Bible and my HK.)
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To: Roccus

If one were inclined to Science Fiction writing you could hide a nice big base and invasion fleet in that thing. Our solar system, a speck smaller than an atom in comparison with the observable universe, is an endlessly fascinating place. Of course, in the opposite direction so is the bottom of your average garden pond.


6 posted on 06/30/2013 9:15:42 PM PDT by katana (Just my opinions)
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To: SunkenCiv

Captured comet?


7 posted on 06/30/2013 9:24:44 PM PDT by BenLurkin (This is not a statement of fact. It is either opinion or satire; or both)
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To: SunkenCiv

These craters look like they were formed by out-gassing, and if so, what remains is the core of a captured comet.


8 posted on 06/30/2013 9:29:15 PM PDT by zot
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To: null and void

Of course you don’t. Lew never wore a Lakers’ uniform.

};^)


9 posted on 06/30/2013 9:36:32 PM PDT by Roccus
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To: SunkenCiv

Looks like barnacles have been growing on it. Could there be such a thing as space barnacles?


10 posted on 06/30/2013 9:37:13 PM PDT by Jack Hydrazine (IÂ’m not a Republican, I'm a Conservative! Pubbies haven't been conservative since before T.R.)
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To: Roccus

Yeah, and Barry Soetoro isn’t president either.


11 posted on 06/30/2013 9:43:00 PM PDT by null and void (Republicans create the tools of oppression, and the democrats gleefully use them!)
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To: Jack Hydrazine

I was thinking that it looks like coral.


12 posted on 06/30/2013 9:43:25 PM PDT by kabumpo (Kabumpo)
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To: null and void

Wow...that was clever.


13 posted on 06/30/2013 10:04:25 PM PDT by Roccus
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To: SunkenCiv

Looks like a barnacle or coral of some sort. Almost organic cellular structure.......


14 posted on 06/30/2013 10:06:35 PM PDT by doorgunner69
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To: Roccus

I thought it was a clumsy attempt to cover my near total lack of any sports acumen.


15 posted on 06/30/2013 10:14:01 PM PDT by null and void (Republicans create the tools of oppression, and the democrats gleefully use them!)
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To: SunkenCiv
Looks like something that was molten at one time, out gassed furiously in the vacuum of space while cooling down and eventually solidifying.

Wonder what molten lava would look like in a large vacuum chamber while it cooled, seems like a simple experiment.

Probably could get a close approximation with mixed 5 minute epoxy hardener and resin, pulling a vacuum while it hardened..........Just thinking.

16 posted on 06/30/2013 10:36:15 PM PDT by The Cajun (Sarah Palin, Mark Levin, Ted Cruz, Trey Gowdy......Nuff said.)
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To: SunkenCiv

17 posted on 06/30/2013 10:40:27 PM PDT by Cronos (Latin presbuteros>Late Latin presbyter->Old English pruos->Middle Engl prest->priest)
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To: BenLurkin

Those are impact craters. The question is what is the composition of Hyperion. What it is composed of will define what the impact craters look like.

Solid rock would not give that type of impact picture. Perhaps a rock and ice mixture could give this picture. If Hyperion were solid rock, we would see rays from the impact craters, as on the moon, that are caused by ejecta from the impact. It would appear that Hyperion is a semisolid.


18 posted on 06/30/2013 10:42:29 PM PDT by cpdiii (Deckhand, Roughneck, Mud Man, Geologist, Pilot, Pharmacist. THE CONSTITUTION IS WORTH DYING FOR!)
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To: BenLurkin

Those are impact craters. The question is what is the composition of Hyperion. What it is composed of will define what the impact craters look like.

Solid rock would not give that type of impact picture. Perhaps a rock and ice mixture could give this picture. If Hyperion were solid rock, we would see rays from the impact craters, as on the moon, that are caused by ejecta from the impact. It would appear that Hyperion is a semisolid.


19 posted on 06/30/2013 10:43:26 PM PDT by cpdiii (Deckhand, Roughneck, Mud Man, Geologist, Pilot, Pharmacist. THE CONSTITUTION IS WORTH DYING FOR!)
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To: Roccus

It looks tough and mean.


20 posted on 06/30/2013 10:45:03 PM PDT by laplata (Liberals don't get it. Their minds have been stolen.)
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