rev 152 is now up
mostly routine obs, plus one non-targeted encounter of Hyperion

A non-targeted Hyperion encounter this rev & next. Good! We haven't had any good looks at H. in some time!

And it promises to be a very good look - It's the closest flyby of Hyperion for the rest of the mission, and probably our best view of this moon for a few decades to come..
Resolution should be comparable to this: (though at a lesser phase angle)

it would be nice to be able to update my map of Hyperion , and add fixes

...should be an absorbing encounter

I'm not certain, but I believe due to the chaotic rotation, it's not possible yet to predict accurately at which areas the cameras are pointing during Hyperion encounters - the sequence planners don't know exactly which part of the moon will be visible during the flyby.
Good thing is there'll almost certainly be some improved resolution for parts of the moon during the upcoming encounter.

After all, the encounter is merely sponging off of a fortuitous alignment of the moons...

Good foam on that post, nprev

jasedm true
i ended up using the existing shape model and manually making it fit
as to weather north is up ?? who knows . That though is something that needs fixing (north is to the right )

Nice pictures of Hyperion are now online:
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/imag...9/N00174835.jpg
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/imag...9/N00174838.jpg
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/imag...9/N00174852.jpg
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/imag...9/N00174868.jpg
...
A long time we did not get such great pictures of the Chaotic Sponge Moon !
Best regards,
Marc.

anaglyph

Considering that Dawn is at Vesta with its big crater, I am glad that the Bond-Lassell crater was in view this time around. Great views of the central mound of that crater.

Wow! about 4 pages of images--And about every possible filter at low phase angle from multiple distances.

Hyperion crescent. Unfortunate that the "nose" got cut off in the NACs. I substituted a bit from a distant WAC but it doesn't hold up well to close scrutiny.

Great crescent mosaic , Emily !
I'm happy that Hyperion comes back in light !
I especially like this picture:
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/imag...9/N00174904.jpg
From this point of view, Hyperion seems indeed to have a much more regular Vesta-like shape, which is not the case with any other pictures of this strange object.
Is the smaller basin at the top Helios ?
Marc.

Yes, the 'basin at the top' is Helios.

Click to view attachment

Phil

Here's a quick composite using the R,G, and B images, warped to approximately match each other. Color is a rough guestimate, because the exposures weren't consistent.
Click to view attachment
Sean Walker

Thanks Phil. I like so much studying the maps of Solar System planets and moons. I could stay hours in front of a map. I think it's time to get an improved map of Hyperion. And I'm looking forward to learn all the future names of surface features. I just hope they will be easier to remember than those on Rhea !
Nice composite Sean. What a fascinating world !

WAC color composite of Hyperion from 27,000 km away. I really like this shot.

Click to view attachment

So lonely.....

Im not convinced thats a crater.

To me it looks like it feel in on itself.

Hyperion in natural color and a comparison shot from the previous close flyby:

Click to view attachment Click to view attachment

I know that this may be anathema to some people, but I took the liberty of painting the nose back in.

Click to view attachment

Hi everyone,

I know I'm a little late to the party, but here's my attempt to animate the Hyperion flyby, resulting from judicious usage of some tweening and deshaking filters:

http://youtu.be/ARyY7BJhzhs?hd=1

The colour is false, but still pretty effective, nonetheless.

Thanks Ian--Great animation.

WOW! Beautiful work!

"The colour is false, but still pretty effective, nonetheless."

Nice animation and color looks very natural.

I agree - looks like a collapse. Hyperion's half empty by density, so it's perhaps not beyond the bounds of possibility.

To me, a classic impact crater with a central peak. Why would a collapse be so circular and have a central peak?

http://planetimages.blogspot.com/2005/09/v...s-hyperion.html

Phil

I'm no planetary geologist (as I'm sure you'll shortly discover ) and I defer to your much greater experience on this Phil, it just appears to me to be very different to most impact craters, I'll try to explain why:

1) The dark lag deposits in the smaller craters appear evenly distributed both inside and outside the depression, and the surface appears visually very similar in age interior and exterior (similar crater sizes, and distribution).
2) The scarps are relatively bright, and fresher-looking than anywhere else on Hyperion
3) Some of the craters actually on or adjacent to the depression scarp look as if they've 'stretched' following slumping
4) The scarp is non-concentric, and in places non-existent
5) The rim is very subdued

As to the central mound, I have a wacky theory that I won't embarrass myself by airing just at the minute.....

On balance, Occam's razor no doubt applies here.

Jase

Maybe there is a middle way. I can imagine that an impact into a very porous object might produce a crater, with characterisic features such as a central peak, that would nevertheless be more than usually sunken in. This might happen if the impact shattered an open structure and collapsed all the voids within. Don't ask me to 'produce' such a porous object. I don't know how to do it. But Hyperion is so peculiar that I'm prepared to entertain strange ideas.

Another thought about central peaks. I've always assumed they were produced by outward blasted material 'sloshing' inward after an impact, but I'm not sure this works in low g environments like Hyperion (and Vesta S).

Just read your post.
Me too. I wonder if they're the same??

Hypervelocity Impacts in a Bingham Solid (think viscous gel rather than solid foam) can set up neat dome patterns in the crater interior depending on the energies involved. (Can also set up bonus waves outside).

http://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu//full/1...001656.000.html

Check out entry 8505 in figure 4 in the text.

Maybe whatever Hyperion's target material is (modelling hints that it is volatile rich ice) it can act as a Bingham solid when impacted.