Image of the Day: Saturn's Very Weird Moon, Hyperion

Quote from source:

Saturn's weird moon, Hyperion, measures about 255 x 163 x 137 miles in diameter along its three axes. Because moons of this size usually have enough gravity to pull them into a spherical shape, astronomers suggest that it may be a fragment of a larger moon that was shattered by an impact.

The planet's odd shape prevents rotational locking, because the gravitational torques from Saturn and it's largest moon, Titan, tug at it unevenly. This results in a rotation that's impossible to predict. with The days that are never the same and Hyperion's north pole continually points to a different location in space.

Astronomers know the equation to predict the moon's rotational motion, but small uncertainties in measurements of the moon's initial location or velocity turn into large uncertainties over time.

Image: Via NASA

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I had to post this because this picture is so neat. I think that the moon appears to be made out of coral, at least that is what it looks like...

I wanted to post this because any information about a celestial body in our solar system is a good thing.

Awe inspiring to me anyway.

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Oh yea definetly always a good thing. The odd shaoe to me looks like possibly a broken off piece as they think or perhaps even a meteor that has been pulled in by Saturns gravity. Isnt the popular view that the rings were created by an impact of some sort. Perhaps thing is just larger debris from the same impact.

reply to post by youdidntseeme


Saturn's rings were caused by the destruction of a moon or moons. The force of gravity rips the moon(s) apart creating the rings.

I would say this is more of a chuck of moon left over, than an asteroid. An asteroid would be pulled towards the surface as it would be caught in Saturn's massive gravitational pull and would end up on the surface rather than in an orbit. Of course if it was a wide enough trajectory around the planet it would be caught up for a bit, but it would eventually hit the surface.

I hope this makes sense.

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Thought I would ad a little more information about this moon, and found a good article on it.

They state that it is a rubble pile, which is a little strange for a moon, but good article none the less.

www.solarviews.com...

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