Mapping Hyperion in Projections of the Triaxial Ellipsoid Based on a New Reference Network and a Digital Terrain Model

Abstract—

The work used data on Saturn’s satellite Hyperion obtained from the flight results of the Cassini spacecraft due to their completeness, resolution, and image quality. They pointed out the chaotic nature of Hyperion’s rotation, as a result of which there was an ambiguity in determining its coordinate system associated with the body. The dimensions of the approximating ellipsoid and the parameters of the transition from the coordinate system, initially adopted under the assumption of uniform rotation of Hyperion around Saturn, to a coordinate system whose axes coincide with the axes of the found ellipsoid were obtained. A digital model of the Hyperion surface was also created, on the basis of which geodetic heights were calculated relative to a triaxial ellipsoid with certain parameters. The method for calculating heights is based on the combined use of the equation of the normal to the surface passing through a given point and the equation of the surface itself. As a result of the research, a map of Hyperion was compiled in the projection of the triaxial ellipsoid with horizontal lines constructed on the basis of calculated geodetic heights. An original method for studying the nature of Hyperion’s rotation is presented using the projection of Saturn’s position onto the surface of Hyperion for all known moments in time in an object-centric coordinate system. The implementation of this technique allowed us to assume that Hyperion’s own rotation axis precesses relative to the largest axis of the body in a counterclockwise direction.