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Collection:
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NASA Planetary Photo Journal Collection
Collection
NASA Planetary Photo Journal Collection
Collection
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Title:
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Mapping Titan's Surface
Title
Mapping Titan's Surface
Title
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Original Caption Released with Image:
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Like the mysterious dark markings on Mars that once haunted astronomer Percival Lowell, shadowy features and mysterious markings appear to stain the surface of puzzling Titan. Sixteen Cassini narrow angle camera images were used to produce the surface map shown here. The images vary in scale from 88 to 35 kilometers (52 to 21 miles) per pixel. The map has a scale of 15 kilometers (9 miles) per pixel and covers Titan's surface from latitudes of about 80 degrees south to 35 degrees north. In this map, surface features as small as about 100 kilometers (60 miles) across are clearly resolved. This is an improvement of nearly a factor of three over ground-based observations of Titan, though still too poor to understand the surface in detail. From analysis of maps such as this, it is easy to discern the characteristics of a moon's surface. The equatorial region (30 degrees south to 30 degrees north latitude) is crossed by dark markings, although they are less prominent over the bright region named "Xanadu," located near longitude 90 degrees. The map indicates that the dark markings often have relatively straight boundaries with preferred orientations - suggestive of internal, probably complex, tectonic processes. Some of the brighter, round markings might be recent impact craters, including a bright feature with rays apparently extending from it near longitude 130 degrees on the leading hemisphere of Titan. These mapped images were taken through the methane "window" at 938 nanometers with a polarizing filter. This combination was designed specifically to reduce the obscuration by atmospheric haze. This method for seeing Titan's surface was explained in an earlier release about Titan (see PIA06071). Cassini took the images between June 2 and June 22, 2004, at distances ranging from 14.8 million kilometers (9.2 million miles) to 5.9 million kilometers (3.7 million miles) from Titan. Cassini will make 45 close passes by Titan over the next four years. On July 2, 2004, Cassini will make a more-distant pass over Titan's South Pole, returning images that are 17 times higher in resolution than the best images comprising this map. 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 Cassini-Huygens mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras, were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging team is based at the Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colo. For more information, about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit, http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov and the Cassini imaging team home page, http://ciclops.org.
Original_Caption_Rel eased_with_Image
Like the mysterious dark markings on Mars that once haunted astronomer Percival Lowell, shadowy features and mysterious markings appear to stain the surface of puzzling Titan. Sixteen Cassini narrow angle camera images were used to produce the surface map shown here. The images vary in scale from 88 to 35 kilometers (52 to 21 miles) per pixel. The map has a scale of 15 kilometers (9 miles) per pixel and covers Titan's surface from latitudes of about 80 degrees south to 35 degrees north. In this map, surface features as small as about 100 kilometers (60 miles) across are clearly resolved. This is an improvement of nearly a factor of three over ground-based observations of Titan, though still too poor to understand the surface in detail. From analysis of maps such as this, it is easy to discern the characteristics of a moon's surface. The equatorial region (30 degrees south to 30 degrees north latitude) is crossed by dark markings, although they are less prominent over the bright region named "Xanadu," located near longitude 90 degrees. The map indicates that the dark markings often have relatively straight boundaries with preferred orientations - suggestive of internal, probably complex, tectonic processes. Some of the brighter, round markings might be recent impact craters, including a bright feature with rays apparently extending from it near longitude 130 degrees on the leading hemisphere of Titan. These mapped images were taken through the methane "window" at 938 nanometers with a polarizing filter. This combination was designed specifically to reduce the obscuration by atmospheric haze. This method for seeing Titan's surface was explained in an earlier release about Titan (see PIA06071). Cassini took the images between June 2 and June 22, 2004, at distances ranging from 14.8 million kilometers (9.2 million miles) to 5.9 million kilometers (3.7 million miles) from Titan. Cassini will make 45 close passes by Titan over the next four years. On July 2, 2004, Cassini will make a more-distant pass over Titan's South Pole, returning images that are 17 times higher in resolution than the best images comprising this map. 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 Cassini-Huygens mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras, were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging team is based at the Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colo. For more information, about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit, http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov and the Cassini imaging team home page, http://ciclops.org. Original Caption Released with Image
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Image Credit:
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NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute
Image_Credit
NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute
Image Credit
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Produced By:
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CICLOPS/Space Science Institute
Produced_By
CICLOPS/Space Science Institute
Produced By
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Mission:
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Cassini
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Spacecraft:
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Cassini Orbiter
Spacecraft
Cassini Orbiter
Spacecraft
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Target Name:
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Titan
Target_Name
Titan
Target Name
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Is a satellite of:
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Saturn
Is_a_satellite_of
Saturn
Is a satellite of
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Instrument:
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Imaging Science Subsystem - Narrow Angle
Instrument
Imaging Science Subsystem - Narrow Angle
Instrument
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Product Size:
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1200 samples x 580 lines
Product_Size
1200 samples x 580 lines
Product Size
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Primary Data Set:
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Cassini
Primary_Data_Set
Cassini
Primary Data Set
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facet_what:
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Moon
facet_what
Moon
facet_what
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facet_what:
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Mars
facet_what
Mars
facet_what
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facet_what:
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Saturn
facet_what
Saturn
facet_what
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facet_what:
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Cassini
facet_what
Cassini
facet_what
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facet_what:
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Titan
facet_what
Titan
facet_what
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facet_what:
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Cassini Orbiter
facet_what
Cassini Orbiter
facet_what
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facet_what:
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Huygens Probe
facet_what
Huygens Probe
facet_what
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facet_what:
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Cassini-Huygens
facet_what
Cassini-Huygens
facet_what
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facet_what:
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Imaging Science Subsystem (ISS)
facet_what
Imaging Science Subsystem (ISS)
facet_what
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facet_what:
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Titan (Saturn Moon)
facet_what
Titan (Saturn Moon)
facet_what
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facet_where:
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Mars
facet_where
Mars
facet_where
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facet_where:
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Saturn
facet_where
Saturn
facet_where
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facet_where:
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California
facet_where
California
facet_where
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facet_where:
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Washington
facet_where
Washington
facet_where
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facet_where:
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Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)
facet_where
Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)
facet_where
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facet_where:
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Washington, D.C.
facet_where
Washington, D.C.
facet_where
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facet_when:
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July 2, 2004
facet_when
July 2, 2004
facet_when
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facet_when:
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June 22, 2004
facet_when
June 22, 2004
facet_when
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facet_when_year:
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2004
facet_when_year
2004
facet_when_year
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Image #:
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PIA06086
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UID:
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SPD-PHOTJ-PIA06086
UID
SPD-PHOTJ-PIA06086
UID
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orignial url:
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orignial_url
orignial url
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