Titan's surface and atmospheric features are shown here in this processed,
visible-light image taken by Cassini.
Cassini's visible-light spectral filter is sensitive to a broad range of
light, from ultraviolet to near-infrared. Imaging scientists normally use
a narrow-band filter centered at 938 nanometers to look at Titan's surface
and cloud features (see PIA06154). Most images of Titan taken between flybys
are in visible light and are used to navigate the spacecraft. Views like
these demonstrate that the surface, as well atmospheric features (such as
the haze banding seen near the northern limb of Titan), can indeed be
seen through this filter.
Although the clear filter is not the best way to view the surface, this
observation demonstrates that with sufficient processing, this filter can
be used to keep track of cloud features during periods between flybys in
order to provide a better understanding of the evolution of Titan's
atmosphere as the moon nears spring in the northern hemisphere.
This image was taken with the Cassini spacecraft narrow angle camera on
Feb. 10, 2004 from a distance of 2.5 million kilometers (1.6 million
miles). The image scale is 15 kilometers (9.5 miles) per pixel. The image
was strongly enhanced to bring out surface features. Features on the
eastern side of this image will be observed at 20 times this resolution
during a flyby in late March.
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 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.
