Cassini Narrow Angle Camera Imaged South Pole During First Titan Flyby

Summary: The Cassini narrow angle camera imaged the south pole during the first Titan flyby on July 2, 2004.

A sequence of four images, obtained by the Cassini-Huygens spacecraft’s narrow angle camera (NAC) over approximately five hours during the mission’s first Titan flyby, July 2, 2004, tracks an evolving field of clouds near Titan’s south polar region; NASA ID PIA06110, image addition date 2004-07-03; image credit NASA / JPL / Space Science Institute: May be used for any purpose without prior permission, via NASA JPL Photojournal

The Cassini narrow angle camera imaged the south pole during the first Titan flyby on July 2, 2004, as the Cassini-Huygens spacecraft obtained the mission’s first images of Saturn’s largest moon.

The Cassini-Huygens spacecraft launched Wednesday, Oct. 15, 1997, at 08:43 Coordinated Universal Time (UTC; 1:43 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time PDT; 4:43 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time EDT) from east central Florida’s Cape Canaveral. On Monday, June 28, at 8:54 p.m. PDT (11:54 p.m. EDT; Tuesday, June 29, at 03:54 UTC), the spacecraft entered into Saturn’s orbit by executing the Saturn Orbit Insertion (SOI) maneuver, according to a June 28, 2004, post by science writers Lonnie Shekhtman and Jay Thompson on the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Science Solar System Exploration website.

The spacecraft achieved its first flyby of Titan, Saturn’s largest moon, on Friday, July 2, 2004. The NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s (JPL) Photojournal website displays images from this first, albeit distant, encounter with Titan. The images were obtained, over the course of almost five hours, by the Cassini Imaging Science System’s (ISS) narrow angle camera (NAC).

The narrow angle camera is one of two fixed focal length cameras that comprise the Cassini-Huygens spacecraft’s Imaging Science Subsystem. The narrow angle camera is a high resolution reflecting telescope with a square field of view (FOV) of 0.35 degrees and a 2000-millimeter (mm) focal length. The wide angle camera (WAC) is a low resolution refractor with a field of view of 3.5 degrees and a 200-mm focal length. Each camera is equipped with spectral filters that have a combined electromagnetic spectrum span of 200 to 1100 nanometres (nm), according to Cassini imaging director Carolyn Porco and 19 co-authors in the November 2004 issue of Space Science Reviews.

The Imaging Science System is attached to the cylindrically-shaped main body of the Cassini orbiter. The Cassini orbiter and the Huygens probe are the spacecraft’s two main elements.

A sequence of four images of Titan’s atmosphere and surface (NASA ID: PIA06110) were obtained at distance ranges of 364,000 to 339,000 kilometers (226,170 to 210,600 miles) from the haze-blanketed moon. The images have a pixel scale of 2.2 to 2.0 kilometers per pixel (1.4 to 1.2 miles per pixel). The smallest discernible surface features in the images measure approximately 10 kilometers (6 miles).

The quartet records a field of clouds near the Titanean south pole. The bright clouds are believed to be methane-based, not water-based.

A blowup of one of the images of the south polar clouds (NASA ID: PIA06112) reveals variations in brightness on the Titanean surface. The field of the clouds covers 450 kilometers (280 miles), which approximates the size of the U.S. state of Arizona, according to the NASA JPL Photojournal website. This image was acquired at a distance of 339,000 kilometers (210,600 miles).

A mosaic, published July 3, 2004, as “Titan’s Mottled Surface” (NASA ID: PIA06109), is composed of south polar region images that were obtained via special filters that penetrate Titan’s thick haze and atmosphere. The mosaic’s surface features blur toward the limb as a result of the amount of atmosphere traversed by reflected light during passage from the Titanean surface to the camera.

The mosaic post considers the glimpse of the Titanean surface offered by this first flyby composite. “There are many strange dark and bright patterns on Titan’s surface -- linear, sinuous and circular -- whose origins are not yet understood,” the PIA06109 post observes.

The Cassini Huygens mission’s imaging team processes the mission’s images for release to the public at CICLOPS (Cassini Imaging Central Laboratory for Operations). CICLOPS is housed in the Space Science Institute (SSI) in Boulder, north central Colorado.

The takeaways for the Cassini narrow angle camera’s south pole images during the Cassini-Huygens mission’s first the Titan flyby are that the mission’s first, albeit distant, encounter with Saturn’s largest moon captured images from a distant range of 364,000 to 339,000 kilometers (226,170 to 210,600 miles) and that bright clouds and surface features were included in the camera’s field of view (FOV).

A mosaic of special filter images, obtained July 2, 2004, by the Cassini-Huygens spacecraft’s narrow angle camera from a distance of 339,000 kilometers (210,600 miles) reveals bright clouds and surface features at Saturnian moon Titan’s south polar region; NASA ID PIA06109, image addition date 2004-07-03; image credit NASA / JPL / Space Science Institute: May be used for any purpose without prior permission, via NASA JPL Photojournal

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

A sequence of four images, obtained by the Cassini-Huygens spacecraft’s narrow angle camera (NAC) over approximately five hours during the mission’s first Titan flyby, July 2, 2004, tracks an evolving field of clouds near Titan’s south polar region; NASA ID PIA06110, image addition date 2004-07-03; image credit NASA / JPL / Space Science Institute: May be used for any purpose without prior permission, via NASA JPL Photojournal @ https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA06110

A mosaic of special filter images, obtained July 2, 2004, by the Cassini-Huygens spacecraft’s narrow angle camera from a distance of 339,000 kilometers (210,600 miles) reveals bright clouds and surface features at Saturnian moon Titan’s south polar region; NASA ID PIA06109, image addition date 2004-07-03; image credit NASA / JPL / Space Science Institute: May be used for any purpose without prior permission, via NASA JPL Photojournal @ https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA06109

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