As it loops around Saturn, Cassini periodically gets a good view of Saturn's moon Hyperion. Hyperion chaotically tumbles around in its orbit and is the largest of Saturn's irregularly-shaped moons. New details about this oddball worldlet will certainly come to light in September, 2005, when Cassini is slated to approach Hyperion at a distance of 990 kilometers (615 miles). Hyperion is 266 kilometers (165 miles) across.
The images were taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera in October 2004 and February 2005, at distances ranging from 1.3 to 1.6 million kilometers (808,000 to 994,000 million miles) from Hyperion and at Sun-Hyperion-spacecraft, or phase, angles ranging from 42 to 66 degrees. Resolution in the original images was 8 to 10 kilometers (5 to 6 miles) per pixel. The images have been contrast-enhanced and magnified by a factor of two to aid visibility.
For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission, visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov and the Cassini imaging team home page, http://ciclops.org .
Name | Value | Additional Values |
---|---|---|
Target | Hyperion | Saturn |
System | Saturn | |
Target Type | Satellite | Planet |
Mission | Cassini-Huygens | |
Instrument Host | Cassini Orbiter | |
Host Type | Orbiter | |
Instrument | Imaging Science Subsystem (ISS) | |
Detector | Narrow Angle Camera | |
Extra Keywords | Grayscale, Rotation, Visual | |
Acquisition Date | ||
Release Date | 2005-03-18 | |
Date in Caption | ||
Image Credit | NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute | |
Source | photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA06608 | |
Identifier | PIA06608 |