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土星的土卫七:一个有奇怪陨石坑的卫星

(原标题: Saturn's Hyperion: A Moon with Odd Craters)

2023-03-12

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亥伯龙奇怪陨石坑的底部是什么?为了帮助找到答案,曾经绕土星运行的机器人卡西尼号宇宙飞船掠过这颗海绵状的卫星,拍摄了前所未有的细节图像。这张由2005年经过的六张照片拼接而成,以科学指定的颜色为特色,展示了一个充满奇怪陨石坑和奇怪海绵状表面的非凡世界。在大多数陨石坑的底部都有某种未知的暗红色物质。这种物质看起来类似于覆盖在土星另一颗卫星土卫八上的部分物质,并且可能会沉入冰卫星中,因为它能更好地吸收温暖的阳光。土卫七直径约250公里,旋转混乱,密度很低,内部可能有一个巨大的洞穴系统。

查看原文解释

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

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