JPL: Cassini Closes in on Saturn's Tumbling Moon Hyperion

[bystander]

Cassini Closes in on Saturn's Tumbling Moon Hyperion
NASA JPL-Caltech | Cassini Solstice Mission | CICLOPS | 2011 Aug 26

[i]NASA's Cassini spacecraft obtained this unprocessed image of Saturn's moon Hyperion on Aug. 25, 2011. (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute)[/i]

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NASA's Cassini spacecraft captured new views of Saturn's oddly shaped moon Hyperion during its encounter with this cratered body on Thursday, Aug. 25. Raw images were acquired as the spacecraft flew past the moon at a distance of about 15,500 miles (25,000 kilometers), making this the second closest encounter.

Hyperion is a small moon -- just 168 miles (270 kilometers) across. It has an irregular shape and surface appearance, and it rotates chaotically as it tumbles along in orbit. This odd rotation prevented scientists from predicting exactly what terrain the spacecraft's cameras would image during this flyby.

However, this flyby's closeness has likely allowed Cassini's cameras to map new territory. At the very least, it will help scientists improve color measurements of the moon. It will also help them determine how the moon's brightness changes as lighting and viewing conditions change, which can provide insight into the texture of the surface. The color measurements provide additional information about different materials on the moon's deeply pitted surface.

The latest raw images of Hyperion are online at: http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/photos/raw/ .

Cassini's closest encounter with Hyperion was on September 26, 2005, when the spacecraft flew approximately 310 miles (500 kilometers) above the moon's surface. Cassini's next flyby of Hyperion will be on Sept. 16, 2011, when it passes the tumbling moon at a distance of about 36,000 miles (58,000 kilometers).

Hyperion Rev 152 Raw Preview
Cassini Imaging Central Laboratory for OPerationS (CICLOPS) | 2011 Aug 26

These raw, unprocessed images of Saturn's moon Hyperion were taken on Aug. 25, 2011, as Cassini conducted its second closest flyby of Hyperion at a distance of about 15,500 miles (25,000 kilometers).

Hyperion is a small moon -- just 168 miles (270 kilometers) across. It has an irregular shape and surface appearance, chaotically rotates, and tumbles along its orbit. Its chaotic rotation prevented scientists from predicting exactly what terrain the spacecraft's cameras would image during this flyby. However, this flyby's closeness has likely allowed Cassini's cameras to map new territory. At the very least, it will help scientists improve color measurements of the moon. It will also allow a determination of how the moon's brightness changes as lighting and viewing conditions change, which can provide insight into the texture of the surface. The color measurements provide additional information about different materials on the moon's deeply pitted surface.

Cassini's closest encounter with Hyperion was on September 26, 2005, when the spacecraft flew approximately 310 miles (500 kilometers) above the moon's surface. Cassini's next flyby of Hyperion will be on Sept. 16, 2011, when it passes the tumbling moon at a distance of about 36,000 miles (58,000 kilometers).

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  Hyperion 'Rev 152' Raw Preview #1
  
  
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  Hyperion 'Rev 152' Raw Preview #5

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Holey Hyperion!
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Cassini’s Latest from Hyperion
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[Ann]

Holey Hyperion, Batman, look at my hole!










Ann

[owlice]

Holey Hyperion, Batman, look at my hole!










Ann

Ummmmmm, that's quite the pick-up line, Ann...

[Ann]

Yes... Boy Wonder jumps through big round screen, makes big hole in it. Wants Batman to take a look. Batman looks at big hole and gets interested in Boy Wonder right away.

Good pick-up line, indeed!

Ann

[neufer]

Holey Hyperion, Batman, look at my hole!

Ummmmmm, that's quite the pick-up line, Ann...

One can always end the relationship by returning to one's own dimension.

<<Hyperion is the name of several fictional characters that appear in publications published by Marvel Comics. The first Hyperion in Marvel Comics debuted in the title the Avengers. This story arc introduced the supervillain team the Squadron Sinister, whose four members were loosely based on heroes in DC Comics' Justice League of America, with Hyperion based on Superman.

The Squadron Sinister are assembled by the cosmic entity the Grandmaster to battle the champions of the time-traveling Kang - the superhero team the Avengers. The Avengers defeat the Squadron and thwart the Grandmaster, with the Thunder God Thor miniaturizing Hyperion and trapping him in a glass sphere. The Squadron reappear in the title Defenders, reunited by the alien Nebulon. The villains receive greater power in exchange for the planet Earth, and create a giant laser cannon in the Arctic to melt the polar ice caps, thereby covering the entirety of the Earth's surface in water. The superhero team the Defenders prevent the scheme and defeat the villains (and Nebulon), with the Hulk overpowering Hyperion.

After this defeat Hyperion and his two remaining team mates are teleported off world by Nebulon, and later return to Earth. Acquiring an energy-draining weapon, the villains plan to threaten the Earth once again but are defeated by the Defenders and the Avenger Yellowjacket. Hyperion is also involved with the warrior woman Thundra, with the relationship ending when she discovers a means of returning to her own dimension.

A new Hyperion is made when the Grandmaster later reappears and reforms the Squadron Sinister. Hyperion is joined by a new Doctor Spectrum (Alice Nugent, former lab assistant of Henry Pym); the Whizzer and Nighthawk. This Hyperion originated from the Microverse, like the original Sinister Hyperion claimed before learning his origins were a lie.>>