Honing In On Huygens Landing Site

SATURN DAILY

On the top, in color, composite image of area where Huygens probe landed; on right a rader image of the same area. Image credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona/Space Science Institute.

Pasadena CA (JPL) Nov 03, 2005
The Cassini spacecraft carried the European Space Agency's Huygens probe to Saturn and released it in December 2004. The probe landed on Titan Jan. 14, 2005, acquiring a set of images using the descent imager/spectral radiometer camera as it parachuted to the surface.

As Cassini continued to orbit Saturn, its imaging science subsystem and visual and infrared mapping spectrometer mapped the region where the Huygens probe landed. On Friday, Oct. 28, 2005, Cassini's radar instrument provided the highest resolution orbital data yet of this area.

The two images shown here tell the story. On the left, in color, is a composite of the imaging camera and infrared data (red areas are brighter and blue darker, as seen in infrared).

On the right is the synthetic aperture radar image. The Huygens descent images are shown inset on the left image and outlined in yellow on the right. The magenta cross in both images shows the best estimate of the actual Huygens landing site. This is a preliminary result, based on the best information available at the present time.

In the left image, the brighter areas seen by the Huygens camera correspond to the large area depicted in red and yellow. On closer inspection, bright features within the Huygens mosaic seem to correspond to smaller features in the map composed of data from the visual and infrared spectrometer and imaging camera. On the right, the correspondence is less clear.

In radar images bright features are usually rougher, so one would not necessarily expect an obvious connection.

Tectonic Features
Pasadena CA (JPL) Nov 03 - This synthetic aperture radar image of Titan was taken on Oct. 28, 2005, as the Cassini spacecraft flew by at a distance of 1,350 kilometers (840 miles). This was the first pass dedicated to radar, and it was the fourth time Cassini's radar honed in on the smoggy moon.

Radar image of Titan, with bright, curving features that are high-standing ridges. Image credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona/Space Science Institute.
The bright, curving features are high-standing ridges, poking up above the plains of Titan. Some of the ridges extend for over 100 kilometers (60 miles). They are likely to be tectonic in origin, formed by deformation of Titan's icy crust.

The low-lying terrain between the ridges is covered in dark streaks, which could be dunes formed by wind. The streaks, spaced 1 to 2 kilometers apart (0.6 to 1 mile), curve between patches of the bright terrain, which probably act as topographic barriers.

This image is 400 kilometers (250 miles) across and 275 kilometers-wide (170 miles). It is located 8 degrees south latitude and 215 degrees west longitude.

SATURN DAILY

Titan Weather: Cloudy Every 15 Years

Moffett Field CA (SPX) Nov 01, 2005
About two years ago, before the Huygens probe arrived at Titan, Henry Roe, a graduate student I was working with at Berkeley, discovered clouds on Titan. He was the first person to get images of what he thought were clouds on the south pole.

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