Imaging of Titan from the Cassini spacecraft

Carolyn C. Porco; Emily Baker; John Barbara; Kevin Beurle; Andre Brahic; Joseph A. Burns; Sebastien Charnoz; Nick Cooper; Douglas D. Dawson; Anthony D. Del Genio; Tilmann Denk; Luke Dones; Ulyana Dyudina; Michael W. Evans; Stephanie Fussner; Bernd Giese; Kevin Grazier; Paul Helfenstein; Andrew P. Ingersoll; Robert A. Jacobson; Torrence V. Johnson; Alfred McEwen; Carl D. Murray; Gerhard Neukum; William M. Owen; Jason Perry; Thomas Roatsch; Joseph Spitale; Steven Squyres; Peter Thomas; Matthew Tiscareno; Elizabeth P. Turtle; Ashwin R. Vasavada; Joseph Veverka; Roland Wagner; Robert West

doi:10.1038/nature03436

Imaging of Titan from the Cassini spacecraft

Carolyn C. Porco, Emily Baker, John Barbara, Kevin Beurle, Andre Brahic, Joseph A. Burns, Sebastien Charnoz, Nick Cooper, Douglas D. Dawson, Anthony D. Del Genio, Tilmann Denk, Luke Dones, Ulyana Dyudina, Michael W. Evans, Stephanie Fussner, Bernd Giese, Kevin Grazier, Paul Helfenstein, Andrew P. Ingersoll, Robert A. JacobsonTorrence V. Johnson, Alfred McEwen, Carl D. Murray, Gerhard Neukum, William M. Owen, Jason Perry, Thomas Roatsch, Joseph Spitale, Steven Squyres, Peter Thomas, Matthew Tiscareno, Elizabeth P. Turtle, Ashwin R. Vasavada, Joseph Veverka, Roland Wagner, Robert West

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Abstract

Titan, the largest moon of Saturn, is the only satellite in the Solar System with a substantial atmosphere. The atmosphere is poorly understood and obscures the surface, leading to intense speculation about Titan's nature. Here we present observations of Titan from the imaging science experiment onboard the Cassini spacecraft that address some of these issues. The images reveal intricate surface albedo features that suggest aeolian, tectonic and fluvial processes; they also show a few circular features that could be impact structures. These observations imply that substantial surface modification has occurred over Titan's history. We have not directly detected liquids on the surface to date. Convective clouds are found to be common near the south pole, and the motion of mid-latitude clouds consistently indicates eastward winds, from which we infer that the troposphere is rotating faster than the surface. A detached haze at an altitude of 500 km is 150-200 km higher than that observed by Voyager, and more tenuous haze layers are also resolved.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	159-168
Number of pages	10
Journal	Nature
Volume	434
Issue number	7030
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/nature03436
State	Published - Mar 10 2005

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Porco, C. C., Baker, E., Barbara, J., Beurle, K., Brahic, A., Burns, J. A., Charnoz, S., Cooper, N., Dawson, D. D., Del Genio, A. D., Denk, T., Dones, L., Dyudina, U., Evans, M. W., Fussner, S., Giese, B., Grazier, K., Helfenstein, P., Ingersoll, A. P., ... West, R. (2005). Imaging of Titan from the Cassini spacecraft. Nature, 434(7030), 159-168. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature03436

Porco, CC, Baker, E, Barbara, J, Beurle, K, Brahic, A, Burns, JA, Charnoz, S, Cooper, N, Dawson, DD, Del Genio, AD, Denk, T, Dones, L, Dyudina, U, Evans, MW, Fussner, S, Giese, B, Grazier, K, Helfenstein, P, Ingersoll, AP, Jacobson, RA, Johnson, TV, McEwen, A, Murray, CD, Neukum, G, Owen, WM, Perry, J, Roatsch, T, Spitale, J, Squyres, S, Thomas, P, Tiscareno, M, Turtle, EP, Vasavada, AR, Veverka, J, Wagner, R & West, R 2005, 'Imaging of Titan from the Cassini spacecraft', Nature, vol. 434, no. 7030, pp. 159-168. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature03436

@article{05dd7292e87d4fc9867e86270b100254,

title = "Imaging of Titan from the Cassini spacecraft",

abstract = "Titan, the largest moon of Saturn, is the only satellite in the Solar System with a substantial atmosphere. The atmosphere is poorly understood and obscures the surface, leading to intense speculation about Titan's nature. Here we present observations of Titan from the imaging science experiment onboard the Cassini spacecraft that address some of these issues. The images reveal intricate surface albedo features that suggest aeolian, tectonic and fluvial processes; they also show a few circular features that could be impact structures. These observations imply that substantial surface modification has occurred over Titan's history. We have not directly detected liquids on the surface to date. Convective clouds are found to be common near the south pole, and the motion of mid-latitude clouds consistently indicates eastward winds, from which we infer that the troposphere is rotating faster than the surface. A detached haze at an altitude of 500 km is 150-200 km higher than that observed by Voyager, and more tenuous haze layers are also resolved.",

author = "Porco, {Carolyn C.} and Emily Baker and John Barbara and Kevin Beurle and Andre Brahic and Burns, {Joseph A.} and Sebastien Charnoz and Nick Cooper and Dawson, {Douglas D.} and {Del Genio}, {Anthony D.} and Tilmann Denk and Luke Dones and Ulyana Dyudina and Evans, {Michael W.} and Stephanie Fussner and Bernd Giese and Kevin Grazier and Paul Helfenstein and Ingersoll, {Andrew P.} and Jacobson, {Robert A.} and Johnson, {Torrence V.} and Alfred McEwen and Murray, {Carl D.} and Gerhard Neukum and Owen, {William M.} and Jason Perry and Thomas Roatsch and Joseph Spitale and Steven Squyres and Peter Thomas and Matthew Tiscareno and Turtle, {Elizabeth P.} and Vasavada, {Ashwin R.} and Joseph Veverka and Roland Wagner and Robert West",

note = "Funding Information: Acknowledgements We acknowledge the many members of the imaging team who have assisted in the design of imaging sequences and camera commands and in other vital operational and image processing tasks, in particular N. Martin, E. Birath, J. Riley, B. Knowles, C. Clark, M. Belanger and D. Wilson. This work has been funded by NASA/JPL, the UK Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council, the German Aerospace Center (DLR), and Universit{\'e} Paris VII Denis Diderot, CEA, AIM, France.",

year = "2005",

month = mar,

day = "10",

doi = "10.1038/nature03436",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "434",

pages = "159--168",

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T1 - Imaging of Titan from the Cassini spacecraft

AU - Porco, Carolyn C.

AU - Baker, Emily

AU - Barbara, John

AU - Beurle, Kevin

AU - Brahic, Andre

AU - Burns, Joseph A.

AU - Charnoz, Sebastien

AU - Cooper, Nick

AU - Dawson, Douglas D.

AU - Del Genio, Anthony D.

AU - Denk, Tilmann

AU - Dones, Luke

AU - Dyudina, Ulyana

AU - Evans, Michael W.

AU - Fussner, Stephanie

AU - Giese, Bernd

AU - Grazier, Kevin

AU - Helfenstein, Paul

AU - Ingersoll, Andrew P.

AU - Jacobson, Robert A.

AU - Johnson, Torrence V.

AU - McEwen, Alfred

AU - Murray, Carl D.

AU - Neukum, Gerhard

AU - Owen, William M.

AU - Perry, Jason

AU - Roatsch, Thomas

AU - Spitale, Joseph

AU - Squyres, Steven

AU - Thomas, Peter

AU - Tiscareno, Matthew

AU - Turtle, Elizabeth P.

AU - Vasavada, Ashwin R.

AU - Veverka, Joseph

AU - Wagner, Roland

AU - West, Robert

N1 - Funding Information: Acknowledgements We acknowledge the many members of the imaging team who have assisted in the design of imaging sequences and camera commands and in other vital operational and image processing tasks, in particular N. Martin, E. Birath, J. Riley, B. Knowles, C. Clark, M. Belanger and D. Wilson. This work has been funded by NASA/JPL, the UK Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council, the German Aerospace Center (DLR), and Université Paris VII Denis Diderot, CEA, AIM, France.

PY - 2005/3/10

Y1 - 2005/3/10

N2 - Titan, the largest moon of Saturn, is the only satellite in the Solar System with a substantial atmosphere. The atmosphere is poorly understood and obscures the surface, leading to intense speculation about Titan's nature. Here we present observations of Titan from the imaging science experiment onboard the Cassini spacecraft that address some of these issues. The images reveal intricate surface albedo features that suggest aeolian, tectonic and fluvial processes; they also show a few circular features that could be impact structures. These observations imply that substantial surface modification has occurred over Titan's history. We have not directly detected liquids on the surface to date. Convective clouds are found to be common near the south pole, and the motion of mid-latitude clouds consistently indicates eastward winds, from which we infer that the troposphere is rotating faster than the surface. A detached haze at an altitude of 500 km is 150-200 km higher than that observed by Voyager, and more tenuous haze layers are also resolved.

AB - Titan, the largest moon of Saturn, is the only satellite in the Solar System with a substantial atmosphere. The atmosphere is poorly understood and obscures the surface, leading to intense speculation about Titan's nature. Here we present observations of Titan from the imaging science experiment onboard the Cassini spacecraft that address some of these issues. The images reveal intricate surface albedo features that suggest aeolian, tectonic and fluvial processes; they also show a few circular features that could be impact structures. These observations imply that substantial surface modification has occurred over Titan's history. We have not directly detected liquids on the surface to date. Convective clouds are found to be common near the south pole, and the motion of mid-latitude clouds consistently indicates eastward winds, from which we infer that the troposphere is rotating faster than the surface. A detached haze at an altitude of 500 km is 150-200 km higher than that observed by Voyager, and more tenuous haze layers are also resolved.

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U2 - 10.1038/nature03436

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VL - 434

SP - 159

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JO - Nature

JF - Nature

IS - 7030

ER -

Imaging of Titan from the Cassini spacecraft

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