Astronomy Picture of the Day

   [1]Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                                2023 March 12
    [2]An oblong moon is shown that appears sponge like and features many
    odd craters. Close inspection shows that the bottoms of these craters
    are covered with a dark material. Please see the explanation for more
                            detailed information.

                 Saturn's Hyperion: A Moon with Odd Craters
   Image Credit: [3]NASA, [4]ESA, [5]JPL, [6]SSI, [7]Cassini Imaging Team

   Explanation: What lies at the bottom of [8]Hyperion's strange craters?
   To help find out, the [9]robot Cassini spacecraft that once orbited
   [10]Saturn [11]swooped past the [12]sponge-textured moon and [13]took
   images of unprecedented detail. A [14]six-image mosaic from the 2005
   pass, [15]featured here in scientifically assigned colors, shows a
   remarkable world strewn with strange craters and an [16]odd,
   sponge-like surface. At the bottom of most craters lies some type of
   [17]unknown dark reddish material. This material appears similar to
   that covering part of another of Saturn's moons, [18]Iapetus, and might
   sink into the [19]ice moon as it better [20]absorbs warming sunlight.
   [21]Hyperion is about 250 kilometers across, [22]rotates chaotically,
   and has a density so low that it [23]likely houses a vast system of
   [24]caverns inside.

                       Tomorrow's picture: tree colors
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    Authors & editors: [36]Robert Nemiroff ([37]MTU) & [38]Jerry Bonnell
                                 ([39]UMCP)
          NASA Official: Phillip Newman [40]Specific rights apply.
              [41]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
                A service of: [42]ASD at [43]NASA / [44]GSFC,
                         [45]NASA Science Activation
                           & [46]Michigan Tech. U.

References

   1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
   2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2303/hyperion_cassini_1024.jpg
   3. https://www.nasa.gov/
   4. https://www.esa.int/"
   5. https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/
   6. https://www.spacescience.org/
   7. https://ciclops.org/
   8. https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/moons/saturn-moons/hyperion/in-depth/
   9. https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/cassini/spacecraft/index.html
  10. https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/saturn/in-depth/
  11. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA07742
  12. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap150603.html
  13. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5VfYDYL3rA
  14. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA07761
  15. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA07740
  16. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30pH8Xn41Os
  17. https://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2010/pdf/1541.pdf
  18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap180603.html
  19. http://sci.esa.int/cassini-huygens/54778-saturnian-moon-hyperion/
  20. https://www.pinterest.com/pin/491173903088738005/
  21. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperion_(moon)
  22. https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/resources/2382/hyperion-3d-model/
  23. https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2010DPS....42.0603H/abstract
  24. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cave
  25. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap230311.html
  26. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
  27. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html
  28. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html
  29. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  30. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html
  31. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss
  32. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html
  33. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html
  34. https://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=230312
  35. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap230313.html
  36. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  37. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  38. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  39. http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  40. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  41. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  42. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  43. https://www.nasa.gov/
  44. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  45. https://science.nasa.gov/learners
  46. http://www.mtu.edu/