Media Information

 
 
 
Collection:
NASA Cassini-Huygens Collection
Title:
Map of Titan in Infrared
Description:
Mosaic of Titan obtained at the 2.03 micron wavelength
Full Description:
On Oct. 26, 2004, the Cassini spacecraft flew over Saturn's moon Titan at less than 1,200 kilometers (746 miles) at closest approach. Cassini acquired several infrared images with spatial resolution ranging from a few tens of kilometers (several miles) to 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) per pixel.

The visual and infrared mapping spectrometer instrument took images from visible wavelengths to the 5.1 micron wavelength. This figure shows the mosaic obtained at the 2.03 micron wavelength. Observations are centered on the hemisphere of Titan that points away from Saturn.

The left (inset) high-resolution image is 30 kilometers (19 miles) per pixel. It shows the site where the European Space Agency's Huygens probe successfully landed on Jan. 14, 2005. The right inset shows a circular feature that scientists think is a volcano, which may be responsible for replenishing Titan's methane atmosphere.

Titan¿s diameter is 5,151 kilometers (3,200 miles), which is larger than Jupiter's moon Callisto and smaller than another Jovian moon, Ganymede. Callisto has a diameter of 4,806 kilometers (2,986 miles) and Ganymede is 5,268 kilometers (3,273 miles).

The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The visual and infrared mapping spectrometer team is based at the University of Arizona.

For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.n…. The visual and infrared mapping spectrometer team homepage is at http://wwwvims.lpl.….

Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona
Date:
June 8, 2005
Keywords:
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Keywords:
mpeg
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Quicktime
facet_what:
Saturn
facet_what:
Cassini
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Jupiter
facet_what:
Cassini-Huygens
facet_what:
Huygens Probe
facet_what:
Moon
facet_what:
Titan
facet_what:
Cassini Orbiter
facet_what:
Spectrometer
facet_what:
Ganymede
facet_what:
Callisto
facet_what:
Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS)
facet_where:
Saturn
facet_where:
Jupiter
facet_where:
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
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California
facet_where:
Washington
facet_where:
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facet_where:
Ganymede
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Callisto
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Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)
facet_where:
Washington, D.C.
facet_when:
June 8, 2005
facet_when_year:
2005
UID:
SPD-SATRN-1556
original url:

Map of Titan in Infrared