SPACE AND COSMIC RAY PHYSICS SEMINAR

University of Maryland
Atlantic Building, Room 2400 4:30 PM Monday, April 20, 2015
Coffee, Tea & Snacks 4:15-4:30 PM

Douglas P. Hamilton
Department of Astronomy, University of Maryland

The Origin of Titan and Hyperion

Titan is arguably the Solar System's most unusual satellite. It is fifty times more massive than Saturn's other moons and is the only satellite with a substantial atmosphere. Titan shares a unique resonance with nearby Hyperion, but otherwise sits in a particularly large gap between Rhea and Iapetus. Titan has the largest eccentricity of all Saturn's regular satellites and has a reasonably large orbital tilt; its distant neighbor Iapetus has an even more impressive eight degree free inclination. Hyperion itself is a mystery, with its unusual orbit, extremely low density and its unique surface covered with bizarre craters. None of these peculiarities are even partially understood. Until now!