This image taken by Cassini's visual and infrared mapping spectrometer
clearly shows surface features on Titan. It is a composite of false-color
images taken at three infrared wavelengths: 2 microns (blue); 2.7 microns
(red); and 5 microns (green). A methane cloud can be seen at the south
pole (bottom of image). This picture was obtained as Cassini flew by Titan
at altitudes ranging from 100,000 to 140,000 kilometers (88,000 to 63,000
miles), less than two hours before the spacecraft's closest approach. The
inset picture shows the landing site of Cassini's piggybacked Huygens
probe.
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 Cassini-Huygens 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 visual and
infrared mapping spectrometer team is based at the University of Arizona,
Tucson.
For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit,
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov.
For more information about the visual and infrared mapping spectrometer
visit http://wwwvims.lpl.arizona.edu/.
