Discussion: Strange Hyperion Looks Like a Sponge

[Fraser]

SUMMARY: NASA's Cassini spacecraft has gotten a good look at Saturn's unusually shaped moon Hyperion. It has many fresh craters, giving it a spongy looking appearance. Scientists estimate that the moon is only 60% as dense as water, which means that much of its interior must be completely empty space. The images were gathered during a recent Hyperion flyby, when Cassini came within 168,000 km (104,000) of the moon.

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What do you think about this story? Post your comments below.

[om@umr.edu]

An object that is "only 60% as dense as water" may indeed indicate that "much of its interior must be completely empty space."

Or it may also mean the object is composed of compounds less dense than water.

As I recall, oily hydrocarbons float on water.

With kind regards,

Oliver
http://www.umr.edu/~om

[wstevenbrown]

Suggestion: This is a worn-out captured comet. The voids are left from evaporating pockets of methane, neon, etc. Look familiar? S

[antoniseb]

Originally posted by wstevenbrown+Jul 12 2005, 05:15 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (wstevenbrown &#064; Jul 12 2005, 05:15 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> This is a worn-out captured comet. The voids are left from evaporating pockets of methane, neon, etc. [/b]

I&#39;d be willing to believe that this thing and comets had similar origins. It seems unlikely to me that it was a captured comet that had been to the inner Solar System.
<!--QuoteBegin-om@umr.edu@Jul 12 2005, 05:08 PM
Or it may also mean the object is composed of compounds less dense than water[/quote]
I had the same thoughts. There aren&#39;t many non-porous materials that have a density of 0.60. (For example Methane Ice has a density of about 0.50, Methyl alcohol is about 0.80, I&#39;m guessing that Ammonia Ice would also be fairly light compared to water ice.

The image could be deceiving, but Hyperion DOES look porous.

[lswinford]

Having some experience in venting materials from solar passes, also losing momentum from the sun, then being in the vacinity of Saturn for a capture, sounds like a pretty credible comet scenario to me. All that&#39;s needed is an angle of orbit that would be suitable for something that had been slinging around the sun, right?

[wstevenbrown]

Distant (12.9Mkm) + Retrograde (Inclination 174 deg) = Not a local product

which is what led me to the earlier wild supposition. S

[upriver]

It looks like a piece of pumice. No wonder its so light. The convolutions that story goes throught to preserve the standard model, well it must hurt.

[antoniseb]

Originally posted by brantc@Jul 14 2005, 05:35 AM
The convolutions that story goes throught to preserve the standard model, well it must hurt.

Hi Brantc, welcome to the UT forum.

I&#39;m not sure what you are talking about in terms of this story going through convolutions to preserve the standard model. The story seemed fairly straight forward. The object is observed and we can see some of its more obvious properties. I didn&#39;t see anything that challenged standard ideas about the formation of the Solar System, but I did see something that clearly has some clues about part of the history of the Solar System that we don&#39;t know yet.

[Svemir]

That&#39;s the place where we should go (fly)&#33;
No need for drilling, just send a couple of speleologists to collect material from interior.
In the future, it can be used as a base for space exploration. If interior indeed is spongy it will provide protection from radiation.
I ceartanly hope that the discovery wouldn&#39;t lead in a wrong direction -> disposal of nuclear waste.

[Nereid]

This moon, along with Triton, Io, Amalthea, Titan and our own Luna, get my vote for most worthy of considerable, detailed follow-up exploration (OK, so maybe Europa trumps them all, with Ganymede a close second; but that&#39;s only &#39;cause someone whispered "LIFE").

[antoniseb]

Originally posted by Nereid@Jul 21 2005, 09:17 PM
This moon, along with Triton, Io, Amalthea, Titan and our own Luna, get my vote for most worthy of considerable, detailed follow-up exploration (OK, so maybe Europa trumps them all, with Ganymede a close second; but that&#39;s only &#39;cause someone whispered "LIFE").

I&#39;d include Iapetus & Phoebe.

Amalthea will take some very special probe to be able to tolerate the radiation.

[Joff]

Actually I reckon it&#39;s a worn out comet that prevous civilisations kept smashing space probes into, until it was retired to Saturn orbit

(And I love the way you guys have split your "most worthy moon" vote into eight or so - whatever happened to "one man, one vote"?)

[Manchurian Taikonaut]

great information on this Moon

[Nick4]

If a comet or a meteoright hit the moon fast and hard enough do you think it could go through or into the middle of the moon?