Key facts
- Scale fact
- 360 kmmaximum extent
- Composition
- Water ice and rock
Hyperion
360 kmmaximum extent
Visual creditCassini 2005 / NASA / JPL / SSI / Gordan Ugarkovic / Public domainSource: Wikimedia Commons
Details
Hyperion is Saturn's largest irregular nonspherical moon, a porous, sponge-like body with chaotic rotation. Its deep, sharp-edged craters give it a sponge-like appearance.
Hyperion’s rotation is chaotic rather than synchronized into a predictable day, partly because its irregular shape interacts with Saturn and with its orbital resonance with Titan. Cassini images show unusually deep, sharp-edged craters. Its low density and high porosity offer a physical explanation: impacts compress the surface more than they excavate broad blankets of ejecta, producing the moon’s sponge-like appearance.
Links
- Universe journey
- Asteroid belt & Jupiter
- Wikipedia
- Hyperion on Wikipedia
Size neighbors
Objects near Hyperion on the scale
Sources
References for Hyperion
Measurements and descriptive context are compiled by the Scale of Space team from the references below. If you find an error, please let us know.
- Hyperion — Wikipedia
- Visual reference: Wikimedia Commons (Cassini 2005 / NASA / JPL / SSI / Gordan Ugarkovic, Public domain)
Continue with nearby objects or open the full scale.
About
Scale of Space is a scroll-based journey through the universe, placing objects on a single logarithmic scale so you can compare size across an unbroken range.
Guides explain selected parts of that range, while focused views filter the objects by subject.