Wednesday, June 3, 2015

Cassini's last look at Hyperion


Unfortunately for science, NASA's hugely successful Cassini mission to Saturn is nearing its end.  Knowing that, the satellite took one last look at the very unusual moon Hyperion.  The moon looks like it was turned inside out while still bubbling with the heat of formation.

Cassini sends final close views of odd moon Hyperion

Here's the Daily Mail's take on it:

Farewell, Hyperion:  Saturn's "sponge moon" is captured for the final time

One thing I didn't realize before I read this is the presence of the "shockwave" formation on one side due to the impact and resulting large crater on the other side.  Now that I've read this, it's pretty obvious.  In the image below, the crater is on the lower left side and the shockwave formations are at top left and lower right.


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