Hyperion (moon)

Template:Short description {{#invoke:infobox|infoboxTemplate | class = vcard | titleclass = fn org | title = Hyperion | image = {{#invoke:InfoboxImage|InfoboxImage|image=Hyperion true.jpg|upright={{#if:||1.1}}|alt=}} | caption = Hyperion in approximately natural color, as photographed by the Cassini spacecraft. Bond-Lassell Dorsum arcs across much of Hyperion's face | headerstyle = {{#if:|background-color:|background-color:#E0CCFF}} | labelstyle = max-width:{{#if:||11em}}; | autoheaders = y

| header1 = Discovery

| header10 = {{#if:|Designations|Designations}}

| label11 = Template:Longitem | data11 = Saturn VII | label12 = Pronunciation | data12 = Template:IPAc-en<ref>Template:Cite dictionary
Template:MW</ref><ref name="Latin" group="lower-alpha"/> | label13 = Template:Longitem | data13 = Ὑπερίων Hyperīon<ref name="Latin" group="lower-alpha"/> | label14 = Template:Longitem | data14 = | label15 = Template:Longitem | data15 = | label16 = Adjectives | data16 = Hyperionian Template:IPAc-en<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Bill Yenne (1987) The Atlas of the Solar System, p. 144</ref> | label17 = Symbol | data17 =

| header20 = Orbital characteristics{{#ifeq:|yes| (barycentric)}}

| data21 = | data22 = {{#if: |Epoch {{{epoch}}}}} | data23 = {{#if: | Uncertainty parameter {{{uncertainty}}}}} | label24 = Observation arc | data24 = | label25 = Earliest precovery date | data25 = | label26 = {{#switch:{{{apsis}}} |apsis|gee|barion|center|centre|(apsis)=Apo{{{apsis}}} |Ap{{#if:|{{{apsis}}}|helion}}}} | data26 = | label27 = Peri{{#if:|{{{apsis}}}|helion}} | data27 = | label28 = Peri{{#if:|{{{apsis}}}|apsis}} | data28 = | label29 = {{#switch:{{{apsis}}} |helion|astron=Ap{{{apsis}}} |Apo{{#if:|{{{apsis}}}|apsis}}}} | data29 = | label30 = Periastron | data30 = | label31 = Apoastron | data31 = | label32 = Template:Longitem | data32 = Template:Convert<ref name="nb semimajor" group="lower-alpha" /> | label33 = Template:Longitem | data33 = | label34 = Eccentricity | data34 = Template:Val<ref>Pluto Project pseudo-MPEC for Saturn VII Template:Webarchive</ref> | label35 = Template:Longitem | data35 = Template:Val | label36 = Template:Longitem | data36 = | label37 = Template:Longitem | data37 = | label38 = Template:Longitem | data38 = | label39 = Template:Longitem | data39 = | label40 = Inclination | data40 = 0.43° (to Saturn's equator)<ref>NASA's Solar System Exploration: Saturn: Moons: Hyperion: Facts & Figures Template:Webarchive</ref><ref>MIRA's Field Trips to the Stars Internet Education Program: Saturn</ref> | label41 = Template:Longitem | data41 = | label42 = Template:Longitem | data42 = | label43 = Template:Longitem | data43 = | label44 = Template:Longitem | data44 = | label45 = Template:Longitem | data45 = | label46 = Template:Nowrap | data46 = | label47 = Satellite of | data47 = Saturn | label48 = Group | data48 = | label49 = {{#switch: |yes|true=Satellites |Known satellites}} | data49 = | label50 = Star | data50 = | label51 = Earth MOID | data51 = | label52 = Mercury MOID | data52 = | label53 = Venus MOID | data53 = | label54 = Mars MOID | data54 = | label55 = Jupiter MOID | data55 = | label56 = Saturn MOID | data56 = | label57 = Uranus MOID | data57 = | label58 = Neptune MOID | data58 = | label59 = T_Jupiter | data59 =

| header60 = Proper orbital elements

| label61 = Template:Longitem | data61 = {{#if: |{{{p_semimajor}}} AU}} | label62 = Template:Longitem | data62 = | label63 = Template:Longitem | data63 = | label64 = Template:Longitem | data64 = {{#if: |{{{p_mean_motion}}} deg Template:\yr}} | label65 = Template:Longitem | data65 = {{#if:|{{#expr:360/1 round 5}} yr
({{#expr:365.25*360/1 round 3}} d) }} | label66 = Template:Longitem | data66 = {{#if:|{{{perihelion_rate}}} arcsec Template:\yr }} | label67 = Template:Longitem | data67 = {{#if:|{{{node_rate}}} arcsec Template:\yr}}

| header70 = Template:Anchor{{#if:| Physical characteristics|Physical characteristics}}

| label71 = Dimensions | data71 = Template:Convert<ref name="Thomas2010" /> | label72 = Template:Longitem | data72 = | label73 = Template:Longitem | data73 = Template:Val<ref name="Jacobson2022" /> | label74 = Template:Longitem | data74 = | label75 = Template:Longitem | data75 = | label76 = Flattening | data76 = | label77 = Circumference | data77 = | label78 = Template:Longitem | data78 = | label79 = Volume | data79 = | label80 = Mass | data80 = Template:Val<ref name="Jacobson2022">Template:Cite journal</ref> | label81 = Template:Longitem | data81 = Template:Val<ref name="Jacobson2022" /> | label82 = Template:Longitem | data82 = 0.017–Template:Val depending on location<ref name="Thomas2010" /> | label83 = Template:Longitem | data83 = | label84 = Template:Longitem | data84 = 45–Template:Val depending on location.<ref name="Thomas2007">Template:Cite journal</ref> | label85 = Template:Longitem | data85 = ~13 d (chaotic)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> | label86 = Template:Longitem | data86 = | label87 = Template:Longitem | data87 = | label88 = Template:Longitem | data88 = variable | label89 = Template:Longitem | data89 = | label90 = Template:Longitem | data90 = | label91 = Template:Longitem | data91 = | label92 = Template:Longitem | data92 = | label93 = {{#if: |Template:Longitem |Albedo}} | data93 = 0.3<ref name=fact> {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> | label94 = Temperature | data94 = 93 K (−180 C)<ref name="saturn.jpl">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

| data100 = {{#if:|

Surface temp.	min	mean	max
{{{temp_name1}}}
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}}

| header110 = Atmosphere

| below = {{#if:||Template:Reflist }}

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Hyperion Template:IPAc-en, also known as Saturn VII, is the eighth-largest moon of Saturn. It is distinguished by its highly irregular shape, chaotic rotation, low density, and its unusual sponge-like appearance. It was the first non-rounded moon to be discovered.

DiscoveryEdit

Hyperion was independently discovered by William Cranch Bond and his son George Phillips Bond in the United States, and William Lassell in the United Kingdom in September 1848.

NameEdit

The moon is named after Titan Hyperion, the god of watchfulness and observation, and the elder brother of Cronus (the Greek equivalent of the Roman god Saturn). It is also designated Saturn VII. The adjectival form of the name is Hyperionian.

Hyperion's discovery came shortly after John Herschel had suggested names for the seven previously known satellites of Saturn in his 1847 publication Results of Astronomical Observations made at the Cape of Good Hope.<ref name="Lassell 1848 Observations" /> William Lassell, who saw Hyperion two days after William Bond, had already endorsed Herschel's naming scheme and suggested the name Hyperion in accordance with it.<ref> Template:Cite journal</ref> He also beat Bond to publication.<ref> Template:Cite journal</ref>

Physical characteristicsEdit

File:NotSoHyperHyperion.jpg

Saturn VII Hyperion compared to Ceres and the Moon<ref name="Thomas2010" />

ShapeEdit

Hyperion is one of the largest bodies known to be highly irregularly shaped (non-ellipsoidal, i.e. not in hydrostatic equilibrium) in the Solar System.<ref name="nb larger objects" group="lower-alpha"/> The only larger moon known to be irregular in shape is Neptune's moon Proteus. Hyperion has about 15% of the mass of Mimas, the least massive known ellipsoidal body. The largest crater on Hyperion is approximately Template:Convert in diameter and Template:Convert deep. A possible explanation for the irregular shape is that Hyperion is a fragment of a larger body that was broken up by a large impact in the distant past.<ref name="Matthews1992"> Template:Cite journal</ref> A proto-Hyperion could have been Template:Convert in diameter (which ranges from a little below the size of Mimas to a little below the size of Tethys).<ref name=Farinella1997>Template:Cite journal</ref> Over about 1,000 years, ejecta from a presumed Hyperion breakup would have impacted Titan at low speeds, building up volatiles in the atmosphere of Titan.<ref name="Farinella1997" />

CompositionEdit

File:Hyperion in natural colours.jpg

True-color image of Hyperion, taken by the Cassini spacecraft

Like most of Saturn's moons, Hyperion's low density indicates that it is composed largely of water ice with only a small amount of rock. It is thought that Hyperion may be similar to a loosely accreted pile of rubble in its physical composition. However, unlike most of Saturn's moons, Hyperion has a low albedo (0.2–0.3), indicating that it is covered by at least a thin layer of dark material. This may be material from Phoebe (which is much darker) that got past Iapetus. Hyperion is redder than Phoebe and closely matches the color of the dark material on Iapetus.

Hyperion has a porosity of about 0.46.<ref name="Thomas2007" /> Although Hyperion is the eighth-largest moon of Saturn, it is only the ninth-most massive. Phoebe has a smaller radius, but it is more massive than Hyperion and thus denser.<ref name="Thomas2010" />

Surface featuresEdit

Template:See also

Voyager 2 passed through the Saturn system, but photographed Hyperion only from a distance. It discerned individual craters and an enormous ridge, but was not able to make out the texture of Hyperion's surface. Early images from the Cassini orbiter suggested an unusual appearance, but it was not until Cassini's first targeted flyby of Hyperion on 25 September 2005 that Hyperion's oddness was revealed in full.

Hyperion's surface is covered with deep, sharp-edged craters that give it the appearance of a giant sponge. Dark material fills the bottom of each crater. The reddish substance contains long chains of carbon and hydrogen and appears very similar to material found on other Saturnian satellites, most notably Iapetus. Scientists attribute Hyperion's unusual, sponge-like appearance to the fact that it has an unusually low density for such a large object. Its low density makes Hyperion quite porous, with a weak surface gravity. These characteristics mean impactors tend to compress the surface, rather than excavating it, and most material that is blown off the surface never returns.<ref name="next2015"/>

The latest analyses of data obtained by Cassini during its flybys of Hyperion in 2005 and 2006 show that about 40 percent of it is empty space. It was suggested in July 2007 that this porosity allows craters to remain nearly unchanged over the eons. The new analyses also confirmed that Hyperion is composed mostly of water ice with very little rock.<ref> {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Static chargeEdit

Hyperion's surface is electrically charged and was the first discovered to be so other than the Moon's surface.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Orbit and rotationEdit

File:Animation of Hyperion orbit around Saturn.gif

Animation of Hyperion's orbit.
Template:Legend2 Template:·Template:Legend2 Template:·Template:Legend2

File:Hyperion false color.jpg

Image of Hyperion processed to bring out details. It was taken by the Cassini space probe.

The Voyager 2 images and subsequent ground-based photometry indicated that Hyperion's rotation is chaotic, that is, its axis of rotation wobbles so much that its orientation in space is unpredictable. Its Lyapunov time is around 30 days.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Hyperion, together with Pluto's moons Nix and Hydra,<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> is among only a few moons in the Solar System known to rotate chaotically, although it is expected to be common in binary asteroids.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> It is also the only regular planetary natural satellite in the Solar System known to not be tidally locked.

Hyperion is unique among the large moons in that it is very irregularly shaped, has a fairly eccentric orbit, and is near a much larger moon, Titan. These factors combine to restrict the set of conditions under which a stable rotation is possible. The 3:4 orbital resonance between Titan and Hyperion may also make a chaotic rotation more likely. The fact that its rotation is not locked probably accounts for the relative uniformity of Hyperion's surface, in contrast to many of Saturn's other moons, which have contrasting trailing and leading hemispheres.<ref> Template:Cite journal</ref>

ExplorationEdit

Hyperion has been imaged several times from moderate distances by the Cassini orbiter. The first close targeted flyby occurred at a distance of Template:Convert on 26 September 2005.<ref name="next2015" /> Cassini made another close approach to Hyperion on 25 August 2011 when it passed Template:Convert from Hyperion, and third close approach was on 16 September 2011, with closest approach of Template:Convert.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Cassini's last flyby was on 31 May 2015 at a distance of about Template:Convert.<ref name="next2015">Template:Cite news</ref>