|
|
Xanadu's Meandering Rivers
| Description |
Xanadu's Meandering Rivers |
| Full Description |
A network of river channels is located atop Xanadu, the continent-sized region on Saturn's moon Titan. This radar image was captured by the Cassini Radar Mapper on April 30, 2006. These winding, meandering river channels start from the top of the image and run like a fork in the road, splitting to the right and left of the image. At Titan's chilly conditions, streams of methane and/or ethane might flow across parts of the region. The picture is roughly 230 kilometers (143 miles) wide by 340 kilometers (211 miles) long, and shows features as small as 500 meters (1,640 feet). 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 imaging operations center is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov . The Cassini imaging team homepage is at http://ciclops.org . Credit: NASA/JPL |
| Date |
July 19, 2006 |
|
Titan's Geological Goldmine
…
| Description |
Here on the Gallery page you can find the very latest images, videos and products from the Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn, including the spectacular launch, spacecraft assembly and the exciting trip to Saturn. |
| Full Description |
Cassini's powerful radar eyes have uncovered a geologic goldmine in a region called Xanadu on Saturn's moon Titan. Panning west to east, the geologic features include river channels, mountains and hills, a crater and possible lakes. The movie shows the location mapped with the Cassini Radar Mapper using its Synthetic Aperture Radar imaging mode on April 30, 2006. The global map shows the areas mapped so far by radar. The radar swaths are superimposed on a false-color image made from observations by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. Cassini's radar has revealed a variety of geologic features, including impact craters, wind-blown deposits, channels and cryovolcanic features. 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 was designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The radar instrument was built by JPL and the Italian Space Agency, working with team members from the United States and several European countries. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov. Credit: NASA/JPL |
|
Titan (T13) Viewed by Cassin
…
| Description |
Titan (T13) Viewed by Cassinis Radar Flat Map (Annotated) |
| Full Description |
This map of Saturn's moon Titan shows the location of the upcoming April 30, 2006, Titan flyby and the areas mapped so far by the Cassini radar mapper using its synthetic aperture radar imaging mode. Longitudes are labeled at the bottom of the map. The radar swaths are superimposed on a false-color image made from observations by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. The swath shown in light green represents the area to be imaged in the upcoming April 30 flyby. It will go right across an optically bright region of Titan known as Xanadu. See Titan (T13) Viewed by Cassini's Radar for another view of this pass. See Titan (T13) Flat Map for a non-annotated version of this image. The far left image shows the location of the radar swath for the Oct. 28, 2005, flyby. On the top right is the radar swath from the first Titan flyby, on Oct. 26, 2004. The second from the top image is from the second radar pass of Titan, on Feb. 15, 2005 (near-equatorial). The bottom right swath is from the Sept. 7, 2005, flyby. Cassini's radar has revealed a variety of geologic features, including impact craters, wind-blown deposits, channels and cryovolcanic features. 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 was designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The radar instrument was built by JPL and the Italian Space Agency, working with team members from the United States and several European countries. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov . Credit: NASA/JPL |
| Date |
April 27, 2006 |
|
Titan (T13) Viewed by Cassin
…
| Description |
Titan (T13) Viewed by Cassinis Radar |
| Full Description |
This set of images shows the areas mapped so far on Saturn's moon Titan by the Cassini radar mapper using its synthetic aperture radar imaging mode. Labels represent the approximate longitude of each globe. The radar swaths are superimposed on a false-color image made from observations by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. The swath shown in light green represents the area to be imaged in the upcoming April 30, 2006, flyby. It will go right across an optically bright region of Titan known as Xanadu. See Flat Map or Flat Map (annotated) for different views. Cassini's radar has revealed a variety of geologic features, including impact craters, wind-blown deposits, channels and cryovolcanic features. 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 was designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The radar instrument was built by JPL and the Italian Space Agency, working with team members from the United States and several European countries. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov . Credit: NASA/JPL |
| Date |
April 27, 2006 |
|
Titan's Land-o-Lakes
| Description |
The Cassini spacecraft's Titan Radar Mapper instrument imaged this area atop Xanadu, the bright area of Titan, on April 30, 2006. |
| Full Description |
The Cassini spacecraft's Titan Radar Mapper instrument imaged this area atop Xanadu, the bright area of Titan, on April 30, 2006. The picture is roughly 150 kilometers (93 miles) wide by 400 kilometers (249 miles) long, and shows features as small as 350 meters (1148 feet). Chains of hills or mountains are revealed by the radar beam, which is illuminating their northern sides (in this image, north is up). Interspersed between the chains of hills are darker areas where topographic features are absent or partly buried. The darkest areas could contain liquids, which tend to reflect the radar beam away from Cassini in the absence of winds, making the area appear quite dark. At Titan's icy conditions, these liquids would be methane and/or ethane. Stubby drainage features can be see faintly between the chains of hills, suggesting flow of the liquid across parts of the region. 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 was designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The radar instrument was built by JPL and the Italian Space Agency, working with team members from the United States and several European countries. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.cfm. *Image credit:* NASA/JPL |
| Date |
May 8, 2006 |
|
Complex Terrain
| Description |
This complex area of hilly terrain and erosional channels is located atop Xanadu, the continent-sized region on Saturn's moon Titan. |
| Full Description |
This complex area of hilly terrain and erosional channels is located atop Xanadu, the continent-sized region on Saturn's moon Titan. The image was captured by the Cassini Titan Radar Mapper on April 30, 2006. It shows details as small as 350 meters (1148 feet). Each side of the picture covers 200 kilometers (124 miles). Chains of hills or mountains are located near the bottom of the image, appearing bright on their north side (toward the top in this image). Extending further north is a drainage region where liquids flowed, eroding the presumably water-ice bedrock of Xanadu. Careful inspection reveals a series of faint drainage channels, some of which appear to empty into the dark region near the top of the image. Liquid methane might be fed from springs within Xanadu or by occasional rainfall suspected to occur on Titan. There is evidence for this rainfall in images taken by the Descent Imager/ Spectral Radiometer camera on the Huygens probe as it landed, well to the west of this area, on January 14, 2005 (see Water Ice and Methane Springs on Titan). 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 was designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The radar instrument was built by JPL and the Italian Space Agency, working with team members from the United States and several European countries. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.cfm. *Image credit:* NASA/JPL |
| Date |
May 8, 2006 |
|
Radar Flyby of Titan - April
…
| Description |
Radar Flyby of Titan - April 30, 2006 |
| Full Description |
This map of Saturn's moon Titan shows the location mapped with the Cassini radar mapper using its Synthetic Aperture Radar imaging mode on April 30, 2006. The global map shows the areas mapped so far by radar. The top radar swath was mapped during a flyby on Oct. 26, 2004. The middle swath was taken during the Feb. 15, 2005, flyby. Labels represent the approximate longitude. The radar swaths are superimposed on a false-color image made from observations by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. Cassini's radar has revealed a variety of geologic features, including impact craters, wind-blown deposits, channels and cryovolcanic features. 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 was designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The radar instrument was built by JPL and the Italian Space Agency, working with team members from the United States and several European countries. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov . Credit: NASA/JPL/HST |
| Date |
May 5, 2006 |
|
Radar Images the Margin of X
…
PIA08425
Saturn
Radar Mapper
| Title |
Radar Images the Margin of Xanadu |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
This image of Saturn's moon Titan from the Synthetic Aperture Radar instrument on the Cassini spacecraft shows the southwestern area of a feature called Xanadu (bottom right of the image). The area is bright because it reflects the radio wavelengths used to make this radar images. The image was taken on April 30, 2006. Xanadu is one of the most prominent features on Titan and was first seen in ground-based observations. The origin of Xanadu is still unknown, but this radar image reveals details previously unseen, such as numerous curvy features that may indicate fluid flows. Linear dark streaks visible in radar-dark areas are dune fields, also seen in previous radar images (see PIA03567 [ http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA03567 ]). Near the center of the image is a prominent circular feature, named Guabonito, about 90 kilometers (56 miles) in diameter. It might be an impact crater or a cryovolcanic caldera. If this is an impact structure, the absence of an ejecta blanket suggests that the feature has been highly eroded, like some impact structures on Earth, or has been buried by the dune fields. Other radar-bright areas (top left and top right) appear to be topographically high and might act as obstacles, diverting the dunes around them. 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 was designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The radar instrument was built by JPL and the Italian Space Agency, working with team members from the United States and several European countries. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.cfm [ http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov ]. |
|
Impact Craters on Xanadu
PIA08429
Saturn
Radar Mapper
| Title |
Impact Craters on Xanadu |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
This image from the Synthetic Aperture Radar instrument on the Cassini spacecraft shows the radar-bright region Xanadu and two circular features interpreted to be degraded impact craters. In radar images, bright regions indicate a rough or scattering material, while a dark region might be smoother or more absorbing. The image was acquired during a flyby of Titan on April 30, 2006. Near the top of the image is a 70-kilometer-wide (47-mile-wide) impact structure. In contrast to a similarly sized crater called Sinlap (see PIA07368 [ http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA07368 ]), this crater shows a prominent central peak, indicating that the interaction between the impact and the crust was different in this region. Near the bottom of the image is another circular feature with a dark central region that does not show evidence of a central peak. Numerous radar-bright channels cut across the image, indicating that liquids have flowed in this region. 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 was designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The radar instrument was built by JPL and the Italian Space Agency, working with team members from the United States and several European countries. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.cfm [ http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov ]. |
|
Xanadu: Rivers Flowed onto a
…
PIA08428
Saturn
Radar Mapper
| Title |
Xanadu: Rivers Flowed onto a Sunless Sea |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
This image from the Synthetic Aperture Radar instrument on the Cassini spacecraft shows the radar-bright western margin of Xanadu, one of the most prominent features on Titan (see also PIA08425 [ http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA08425 ]). In radar images, bright regions indicate a rough or scattering material, while a dark region might be smoother or more absorbing. The image was taken during a flyby of Titan on April 30, 2006. Narrow, sinuous, radar-bright channels, meandering like a maze, are seen on the right-hand-side of the image. These may be river networks that might have flowed onto the dark areas on the left of the image. Vast, dark areas covered by dunes are seen on the equatorial regions of Titan (see PIA03567 [ http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA03567 ]) and have been referred to as Titan's "sand seas." Near the middle of the image is a radar-bright area that has a boundary with the dark sand seas. Because the radar illumination is coming from the top, this indicates that the bright region, Xanadu, is topographically higher than the sand seas. 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 was designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The radar instrument was built by JPL and the Italian Space Agency, working with team members from the United States and several European countries. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.cfm [ http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov ]. |
|
Titan's Land-o-Lakes
PIA08448
Saturn
Radar Mapper
| Title |
Titan's Land-o-Lakes |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
The Cassini spacecraft's Titan Radar Mapper instrument imaged this area atop Xanadu, the bright area of Titan, on April 30, 2006. The picture is roughly 150 kilometers (93 miles) wide by 400 kilometers (249 miles) long, and shows features as small as 350 meters (1148 feet). Chains of hills or mountains are revealed by the radar beam, which is illuminating their northern sides (in this image, north is up). Interspersed between the chains of hills are darker areas where topographic features are absent or partly buried. The darkest areas could contain liquids, which tend to reflect the radar beam away from Cassini in the absence of winds, making the area appear quite dark. At Titan's icy conditions, these liquids would be methane and/or ethane. Stubby drainage features can be see faintly between the chains of hills, suggesting flow of the liquid across parts of the region. 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 was designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The radar instrument was built by JPL and the Italian Space Agency, working with team members from the United States and several European countries. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.cfm [ http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov ]. |
|
Radar Images Shikoku - "Grea
…
PIA08426
Saturn
Radar Mapper
| Title |
Radar Images Shikoku - "Great Britain |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
This image of Saturn's moon Titan from the Synthetic Aperture Radar instrument on the Cassini spacecraft shows Shikoku Facula, a region that is bright in both radar and visible wavelengths. This radar image was taken on April 30, 2006. For a visible-light image of Shikoku Facula see PIA07752 [ http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA07752 ]. A circular feature with a radar-dark interior, probably an impact crater, is seen near the top of the image and is about 35 kilometers (22 miles) in diameter. Numerous linear dark features are seen running across the image, mostly on the right-hand side. These features were seen on other radar images (see PIA08425 [ http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA08425 ] and PIA03567 [ http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA03567 ]) and interpreted as dune fields. Bright, ridge-like features mainly on the lower half of the image may be topographically high regions. Radar-dark, thin, sinuous features, which may be channels draining from the bright to the dark regions, are seen below the circular feature. 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 was designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The radar instrument was built by JPL and the Italian Space Agency, working with team members from the United States and several European countries. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.cfm [ http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov ]. |
|
Complex Terrain
PIA08449
Saturn
Radar Mapper
| Title |
Complex Terrain |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
This complex area of hilly terrain and erosional channels is located atop Xanadu, the continent-sized region on Saturn's moon Titan. The image was captured by the Cassini Titan Radar Mapper on April 30, 2006. It shows details as small as 350 meters (1148 feet). Each side of the picture covers 200 kilometers (124 miles). Chains of hills or mountains are located near the bottom of the image, appearing bright on their north side (toward the top in this image). Extending further north is a drainage region where liquids flowed, eroding the presumably water-ice bedrock of Xanadu. Careful inspection reveals a series of faint drainage channels, some of which appear to empty into the dark region near the top of the image. Liquid methane might be fed from springs within Xanadu or by occasional rainfall suspected to occur on Titan. There is evidence for this rainfall in images taken by the Descent Imager/Spectral Radiometer camera on the Huygens probe as it landed, well to the west of this area, on January 14, 2005 (see PIA07238 [ http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA07238 ]). 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 was designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The radar instrument was built by JPL and the Italian Space Agency, working with team members from the United States and several European countries. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.cfm [ http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov ]. |
|
Radar Flyby of Titan - April
…
PIA08430
Saturn
Radar Mapper
| Title |
Radar Flyby of Titan - April 30, 2006 |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
This map of Saturn's moon Titan shows the location mapped with the Cassini radar mapper using its synthetic aperture radar imaging mode on April 30, 2006. The global map shows the areas mapped so far by radar. The top radar swath was mapped during a flyby on Oct. 26, 2004. The middle swath was taken during the Feb. 15, 2005, flyby. Labels represent the approximate longitude. The radar swaths are superimposed on a false-color image made from observations by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. Cassini's radar has revealed a variety of geologic features, including impact craters, wind-blown deposits, channels and cryovolcanic features. 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 was designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The radar instrument was built by JPL and the Italian Space Agency, working with team members from the United States and several European countries. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.cfm [ http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov ]. |
|
Titan (T13) Viewed by Cassin
…
PIA08100
Saturn
Radar Mapper
| Title |
Titan (T13) Viewed by Cassini's Radar - Flat Map |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
Titan (T13) Viewed by Cassini's Radar Flat Map (annotated) This map of Saturn's moon Titan shows the location of the upcoming April 30, 2006, Titan flyby and the areas mapped so far by the Cassini radar mapper using its synthetic aperture radar imaging mode. Longitudes are labeled at the bottom of the map. The radar swaths are superimposed on a false-color image made from observations by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. The swath shown in light green represents the area to be imaged in the upcoming April 30 flyby. It will go right across an optically bright region of Titan known as Xanadu. See PIA08099 [ http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA08099 ] for another view of this pass. The far left image shows the location of the radar swath for the Oct. 28, 2005, flyby. On the top right is the radar swath from the first Titan flyby, on Oct. 26, 2004. The second from the top image is from the second radar pass of Titan, on Feb. 15, 2005 (near-equatorial). The bottom right swath is from the Sept. 7, 2005, flyby. Cassini's radar has revealed a variety of geologic features, including impact craters, wind-blown deposits, channels and cryovolcanic features. 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 was designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The radar instrument was built by JPL and the Italian Space Agency, working with team members from the United States and several European countries. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.cfm [ http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov ]. |
|
Titan (T13) Viewed by Cassin
…
PIA08100
Saturn
Radar Mapper
| Title |
Titan (T13) Viewed by Cassini's Radar - Flat Map |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
Titan (T13) Viewed by Cassini's Radar Flat Map (annotated) This map of Saturn's moon Titan shows the location of the upcoming April 30, 2006, Titan flyby and the areas mapped so far by the Cassini radar mapper using its synthetic aperture radar imaging mode. Longitudes are labeled at the bottom of the map. The radar swaths are superimposed on a false-color image made from observations by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. The swath shown in light green represents the area to be imaged in the upcoming April 30 flyby. It will go right across an optically bright region of Titan known as Xanadu. See PIA08099 [ http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA08099 ] for another view of this pass. The far left image shows the location of the radar swath for the Oct. 28, 2005, flyby. On the top right is the radar swath from the first Titan flyby, on Oct. 26, 2004. The second from the top image is from the second radar pass of Titan, on Feb. 15, 2005 (near-equatorial). The bottom right swath is from the Sept. 7, 2005, flyby. Cassini's radar has revealed a variety of geologic features, including impact craters, wind-blown deposits, channels and cryovolcanic features. 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 was designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The radar instrument was built by JPL and the Italian Space Agency, working with team members from the United States and several European countries. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.cfm [ http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov ]. |
|
Titan (T13) Viewed by Cassin
…
PIA08099
Saturn
Radar Mapper
| Title |
Titan (T13) Viewed by Cassini's Radar |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
This set of images shows the areas mapped so far on Saturn's moon Titan by the Cassini radar mapper using its synthetic aperture radar imaging mode. Labels represent the approximate longitude of each globe. The radar swaths are superimposed on a false-color image made from observations by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. The swath shown in light green represents the area to be imaged in the upcoming April 30, 2006, flyby. It will go right across an optically bright region of Titan known as Xanadu. See PIA08100 [ http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA08100 ] for a flat map view. Cassini's radar has revealed a variety of geologic features, including impact craters, wind-blown deposits, channels and cryovolcanic features. 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 was designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The radar instrument was built by JPL and the Italian Space Agency, working with team members from the United States and several European countries. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.cfm [ http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov ]. |
|
Comparing Notes on Titan --
…
PIA07785
Saturn
Imaging Science Subsystem, R
…
| Title |
Comparing Notes on Titan -- Radar & Imaging Science Subsystem |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
This short movie shows how data from two different instruments on the Cassini spacecraft can be combined to give an integrated view of Titan's surface. The first frame -- a mosaic of near-infrared images from Cassini's Imaging Science Subsystem -- shows a 1,150-by 900-kilometer (715-by 560-mile) region near Titan's equator. North is up. At the bottom right is the edge of the large bright feature named Xanadu, which was first seen in NASA Hubble Space Telescope images in 1994. At the left is a smaller bright area named Shikoku Facula. The dark plains in between, called Shangri-La, are punctuated by numerous smaller bright features. This mosaic (PIA07754 [ http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA07754 ]) was made from images acquired during Titan flyby in October 2005. The second movie frame shows the full extent of a radar image acquired with the Synthetic Aperture Radar during a flyby of Titan on April 30, 2006. Some bright and dark areas of the radar image correlate to the visible-light camera view, such as the bright 90-kilometer (60-mile) diameter ring feature to the right of center named Guabonito, but others do not. The radar images reveal that many of the large dark areas appear to be covered in dark streaks, which are also seen elsewhere on Titan. The streaks seem to be dunes of some kind of granular material (see PIA03567 [ http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA03567 ]). Some particularly interesting areas include a dark spot at the northeastern end of Shikoku, which is not obvious in the Imaging Science Subsystem data. What appear to be channels across Shikoku are seen in the Imaging Science Subsystem data as very dark, and are perhaps filled with the same dark material that makes the dunes. Within Shangri-la, many of the small spots that look bright to the Imaging Science Subsystem are very prominent as bright spots in the radar image, suggesting they may be rugged hills poking up above the dark plains. In the third frame, two segments of the radar image are highlighted, which have been more strongly enhanced (see PIA08425 [ http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA08425 ] and PIA08426 [ http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA08426 ], for these two images). Guabonito and Shikoku Facula are labeled. There are artifacts present in the view once the radar image fades in -- these are due to the asymmetrical shape of the overlaid radar image. Multiple sets of data are needed to understand a complex world like Titan. As the Cassini mission continues to fly by Titan and observe different regions of its surface, there will be more and more areas where comparative analyses can be done. 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 radar instrument was built by JPL and the Italian Space Agency, working with team members from the United States and several European countries. The imaging operations center is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.cfm [ http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov ]. The Cassini imaging team homepage is at http://ciclops.org [ http://ciclops.org ]. |
|
Titan (T13) Viewed by Cassin
…
PIA08552
Saturn
Radar Mapper
| Title |
Titan (T13) Viewed by Cassini's Radar - April 30, 2006 |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
This image of Titan was acquired on April 30, 2006, by Cassini's radar instrument in synthetic-aperture mode over the continent-sized region called Xanadu. Xanadu is one of the brightest areas on Titan, measuring about 4,000 kilometers (2,485 miles) east to west and 2,000 kilometers (1,243 miles) north to south. The radar coverage shown ranges from 220 to 490 kilometers (140 to 300 miles) from top to bottom, and is about 4,850 kilometers (3,013 miles) wide. Smallest details in this image are about 400 meters (1,310 feet) across. On Xanadu, most of the geologic forces that modify Earth's surface can be found. Channels are seen crossing through plains and meandering through bright, hilly country. Chains of taller mountains appear in Xanadu's interior. Dunes traverse darker areas to the west of Xanadu itself. Circular features might have been formed by the impact of an asteroid or by cryovolcanism. More channels carve through the eastern (right) margin, ending on a dark plain where the dunes abundant elsewhere seem absent. 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 was designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The radar instrument was built by JPL and the Italian Space Agency, working with team members from the United States and several European countries. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.cfm [ http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov ]. |
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Titan's Geological Goldmine
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PIA08605
Saturn
Radar Mapper
| Title |
Titan's Geological Goldmine - Radar Movie |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
"" Click on the image for QuickTime movie of Titan's Geological Goldmine Cassini's powerful radar eyes have uncovered a geologic goldmine in a region called Xanadu on Saturn's moon Titan. Panning west to east, the geologic features include river channels, mountains and hills, a crater and possible lakes. The movie shows the location mapped with the Cassini Radar Mapper using its Synthetic Aperture Radar imaging mode on April 30, 2006. The global map shows the areas mapped so far by radar. The radar swaths are superimposed on a false-color image made from observations by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. Cassini's radar has revealed a variety of geologic features, including impact craters, wind-blown deposits, channels and cryovolcanic features. 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 was designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The radar instrument was built by JPL and the Italian Space Agency, working with team members from the United States and several European countries. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.cfm [ http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov ]. |
|
Titan's Geological Goldmine
…
PIA08605
Saturn
Radar Mapper
| Title |
Titan's Geological Goldmine - Radar Movie |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
"" Click on the image for QuickTime movie of Titan's Geological Goldmine Cassini's powerful radar eyes have uncovered a geologic goldmine in a region called Xanadu on Saturn's moon Titan. Panning west to east, the geologic features include river channels, mountains and hills, a crater and possible lakes. The movie shows the location mapped with the Cassini Radar Mapper using its Synthetic Aperture Radar imaging mode on April 30, 2006. The global map shows the areas mapped so far by radar. The radar swaths are superimposed on a false-color image made from observations by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. Cassini's radar has revealed a variety of geologic features, including impact craters, wind-blown deposits, channels and cryovolcanic features. 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 was designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The radar instrument was built by JPL and the Italian Space Agency, working with team members from the United States and several European countries. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.cfm [ http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov ]. |
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Xanadu's Meandering Rivers
PIA08604
Saturn
Radar Mapper
| Title |
Xanadu's Meandering Rivers |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
A network of river channels is located atop Xanadu, the continent-sized region on Saturn's moon Titan. This radar image was captured by the Cassini Radar Mapper on April 30, 2006. These winding, meandering river channels start from the top of the image and run like a fork in the road, splitting to the right and left of the image. At Titan's chilly conditions, streams of methane and/or ethane might flow across parts of the region. The picture is roughly 230 kilometers (143 miles) wide by 340 kilometers (211 miles) long, and shows features as small as 500 meters (1,640 feet). 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 was designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The radar instrument was built by JPL and the Italian Space Agency, working with team members from the United States and several European countries. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.cfm [ http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov ]. |
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