The three mosaics shown here were composed with data from Cassini's visual
and infrared mapping spectrometer taken during the last three Titan
flybys, on Oct. 28, 2005 (left image), Dec. 26, 2005 (middle image), and
Jan. 15, 2006 (right image).
These false-color images were constructed from images taken at the
following wavelengths: 1.6 microns (blue), 2.01 (green), and 5 microns
(red).
The viewing geometry of the December flyby is roughly on Titan's opposite
hemisphere from the flybys in October and January. There are several
important features to note in the images. The first is that the south
polar cloud system was very bright during the December flyby, while
during the October and January flybys, it is barely visible, indicating
that the atmosphere over Titan's south pole is very dynamic.
In the December (middle) mosaic, a north polar hood that is bright at 5
microns is visible. Its composition is unknown. The north polar hood is
barely seen in the October (left image) and January (right image) data.
Visible in the October and January images just south of the equator is
Tui Reggio, a region nicknamed the "chevron." This region is very bright
at 5 microns and is among the brightest features on Titan at that
wavelength. Tui Reggio is thought to be a surface deposit, probably of
volcanic origin, and may be water and/or carbon dioxide frozen from the
vapor. The January flyby data show that the western margins of Tui Reggio
have a complex flow-like character consistent with eruptive phenomena.
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 was designed, developed and assembled
at JPL. The visual and infrared mapping spectrometer team is based at the
University of Arizona.
For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.cfm The visual and infrared mapping
spectrometer team homepage is at http://wwwvims.lpl.arizona.edu.
