We have all seen plenty of craters in the Solar System but none appear the way they do on Hyperion. As of this time there are only loose theories about the nature and cause of Hyperion’s sponge-like appearance. Brighter outer layers give way to darkened crater bottoms and do this fairly consistently across the entire surface of Hyperion. It is also is second largest irregularly shaped body in the Solar System (#1 being Neptune’s Proteus) and is one of the only chaoticly rotating bodies ever discovered. The spin-axis is so insane that any future visitors to Hyperion will have to wait until they are real near-by to decide where they might be landing as it is actually near impossible to project how Hyperion will be oriented at any given future moment.
IMAGE NOTE: The color was overlaid from another image of Hyperion and the is largely artistic.