This map of Titan's surface illustrates the regions that will be imaged by
Cassini during the spacecraft's close flyby of the smog-enshrouded moon on
April 16, 2005. At closest approach, the spacecraft is expected to pass
approximately 1,025 kilometers (640 miles) above the moon's surface.
The colored lines delineate the regions that will be imaged at differing
resolutions.
Images from this encounter will add to those taken during the March 31,
2005, flyby and improve the moderate resolution coverage of this region.
The imaging coverage will include the eastern portion of territory
observed by Cassini's radar instrument in October 2004 and February 2005,
and will provide a way to compare the surface as viewed by the different
instruments. Such comparisons (see PIA06222) will provide insight into the
nature of Titan's surface.
The higher-resolution (yellow boxes) have been spread out around a central
mosaic in order to maximize coverage of this region by the visual and
infrared mapping spectrometer which will be observing simultaneously with
the cameras of the imaging science subsystem.
The map shows only brightness variations on Titan's surface (the
illumination is such that there are no shadows and no shading due to
topographic variations). Previous observations indicate that, due to
Titan's thick, hazy atmosphere, the sizes of surface features that can be
resolved are a few times larger than the actual pixel scale labeled on the
map.
The images for this global map were obtained using a narrow band filter
centered at 938 nanometers-- a near-infrared wavelength (invisible to the
human eye). At this wavelength, light can penetrate Titan's atmosphere to
reach the surface and return through the atmosphere to be detected by the
camera. The images have been processed to enhance surface details.
It is currently northern winter on Titan, so the moon's high northern
latitudes are not illuminated, resulting in the lack of coverage north of
35 degrees north latitude.
At 5,150 kilometers (3,200 miles) across, Titan is one of the solar
system's largest moons.
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. For additional images visit the
Cassini imaging team homepage http://ciclops.org .
