Bruce Murray Space Image Library

Actual and simulated surface of Hyperion

Actual and simulated surface of Hyperion
Actual and simulated surface of Hyperion A closeup view of Saturn's moon Hyperion (fig. 1) is compared with a simulated Hyperion surface, based upon a model proposed by Alan Howard and coworkers at the 2011 Lunar and Planetary Science Conference. In this model, Hyperion's low gravity is the key to its strange appearance. The width of the figure is about 50 kilometers; vertical relief is about 2.6 kilometers. NASA / JPL-Caltech / SSI / Howard et al. (2011)