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Cassini Images A Hazy Titan
Pasadena CA (SPX) Mar 20, 2006 The 13th flyby of Titan by the Cassini spacecraft produced images showing multiple layers of stratospheric haze. The most prominent layer is located about 500 kilometers (300 miles) above the surface and is seen at all latitudes, encircling Saturn's giant moon. The material in this layer is probably a condensed substance, possibly water ice. Several other layers are most apparent in the north polar hood (at top), but this view also shows some at other latitudes. The mechanisms that produce these layers are not understood, but waves in the atmosphere are thought to play a significant role. Cassini took the 24 separate images required to produce this composite over a period of 23 minutes. Mission specialists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory processed the images to enhance fine detail and combined them to create this view. North on Titan (5,150 kilometers, or 3,200 miles across) is up. Passing Titan on Sunday at a distance of 1,951 kilometers (1,219 miles) at a speed of 5.8 kilometers per second (12,977 miles per hour), Cassini transmitted radio waves through the moon's thick atmosphere back to Earth. The experiment was designed to reveal characteristics about the atmosphere's temperature, chemical structure and winds. Cassini also bounced radio signals off Titan's surface that were detected by Earth-based radio receivers. Scientists think the reflectivity at different wavelengths will provide information about surface roughness and composition. The spacecraft has never attempted this type of data-gathering before, but the Voyager 1 probe conducted a similar experiment in 1980. Cassini's more conventional tasks during flyby 13 included searching for mid-latitude clouds, auroras and hotspots, and changes in surface properties. The spacecraft also continued mapping trace elements � including carbon monoxide, water and hydrogen cyanide � in the atmosphere and conducting observations of Titan's interaction with Saturn's magnetosphere. Related Links Cassini Cassini Images JPL NASA
Saturn Moons Near And Far
Pasadena CA (SPX) Mar 16, 2006Continuing its tour of Saturn's ring plane, NASA's Cassini spacecraft captured Rhea (right, in the distance), as Pandora hovers against the planet's dark shadow on the rings. |
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