Earth and Space News: Saturn moon Titan albedo features

Showing posts with label Saturn moon Titan albedo features. Show all posts

Wednesday, April 13, 2022

Equatorial Xanadu Is Titan's Largest, Brightest Albedo Feature

Summary: Equatorial Xanadu is Titan's largest, brightest albedo feature, with "continent-sized" terrain that stretches across Titan's near and far sides.

Image, obtained April 30, 2006, by the Cassini spacecraft's Titan Radar Mapper, reveals "continent-sized" Xanadu's complex mix of hilly or mountainous terrain and drainage channels; image addition date 2006-05-09; image credit NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASI: May be used for any purpose without prior permission, via NASA JPL Photojournal

Equatorial Xanadu is Titan's largest, brightest feature, with "continent-sized" terrain that wraps around Titan's leading limb in its occupancy of both of the Saturnian moon's Saturn-facing and anti-Saturn sides.

Xanadu is centered at minus 15 degrees south latitude, 100 degrees west longitude, according to the International Astronomical Union’s (IAU) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. The southern equatorial belt-centered feature posts northernmost and southernmost latitudes of 10 degrees north and minus 40 degrees south, respectively. The highly reflective feature obtains easternmost and westernmost longitudes of 65 degrees west and 150 degrees west, respectively. Xanadu's diameter spans 3,400 kilometers.

Xanadu is acknowledged as Titan's "largest, brightest region" (5.3.1 Morphology, page 81) by planetary scientist Ralf Jaumann and 10 co-authors in "Geology and Surface Processes on Titan," chapter five of Titan From Cassini-Huygens, published in 2009 under the editorship of Robert H. Brown, Jean-Pierre Lebreton and J. Hunter Waite. Credit for first discovery of the "Australia-sized, bright region" goes to NASA's Hubble Space Telescope (HST), according to page editor Susan Watanabe's mission news post, "Cassini Reveals Titan's Xanadu Region to Be an Earth-Like Land," published July 19, 2006, on NASA's mission website. Hubble was launched into Low Earth orbit April 24, 1990, via Space Shuttle Discovery (Space Transportation System STS-31) from John F. Kennedy Space Center's (KSC) Launch Complex 39B (LC-39B) on eastern coastal Florida's Merritt Island. In 1994, the space telescope detected then-unnamed Xanadu as a "striking bright spot seen in infrared imaging. Xanadu has the honor of being ". . . the first surface feature to be recognized on Titan," according to NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory's (JPL) Photojournal website post, "The 'Xanadu Annex' on Titan," published Sep. 7, 2016.

Xanadu's vast brightness stretches around Titan's leading, west limb to establish occupancy on Titan's near, Saturn-facing side as well as on the Saturnian moon's far, anti-Saturn side. Its east-to-west expanse logs 85 degrees of longitude, with its eastern portion facing Saturn and its central and western areas turned away from Saturn.

Xanadu's vastness is described as "continent-sized terrain" in Susan Watanabe's "Eyes on Xanadu," posted Oct. 25, 2004, as a Cassin-Huygens multimedia feature on NASA's mission website. Photojournal's March 6, 2009, post, "Skirting Xanadu's Southern Boundary," refers to Xanadu as a "continent-size feature." Its "continent-sized" sprawl dominates Titan's equatorial belt, with a northern reach beyond the equator, into low equatorial northern latitudes, and southern stretch through the low equatorial southern latitudes into the Titanean southern hemisphere's mid-latitudes.

Dark Shangri-La lies to the west of Xanadu on Titan's anti-Saturn side. Shangri-La is centered at minus 10 degrees south latitude, 165 degrees west longitude. The low albedo feature's center coordinates are given as its northernmost-southernmost latitudes and its easternmost-westernmost longitudes.

The parallel trio of dark Fensal, bright Quivira and dark Aztlan neighbor to the east of Xanadu, on Titan's Saturn-facing side. Fensal's center coordinates of 5 degrees north latitude, 30 degrees west longitude are repeated as the dark albedo feature's northernmost-southernmost latitudes and easternmost-westernmost longitudes, respectively. Reflective Quivira is centered on the equator at 15 degrees west longitude, and its northernmost-southernmost latitudes and easternmost-westernmost longitudes are equated with its center coordinates. Aztlan's center coordinates of minus 10 degrees south latitude, 20 degrees west longitude, are listed as the low albedo feature's northernmost-southernmost latitudes and easternmost-westernmost longitudes, respectively.

Bright Tsegihi occurs to the southeast of Xanadu. The high albedo feature is centered at minus 40 south latitude, 10 degrees west longitude. The Saturn-facing side occupant's undetermined parameters are reflected in the identification of center coordinates with northernmost-southernmost latitudes and easternmost-westernmost longitudes.

Rugged terrain to the south of Xanadu has been nicknamed as "Xanadu Annex" by members of the Cassini-Huygens Mission's radar team, according to Photojournal's "The 'Xanadu Annex' on Titan." A Synthetic-Aperture Radar (SAR) image obtained July 25, 2016, captured mountainous terrains that resemble the hill and mountain chains that appeared in an image of Xanadu that was acquired April 30, 2006, by the Cassini spacecraft's Titan Radar Mapper and was published in Photojournal's "Complex Terrain" post on May 9, 2006.

Xanadu and also perhaps the Xanadu Annex present ". . . something of a mystery," according to Photojournal's "The 'Xanadu Annex' on Titan" post. Xanadu was originally interpreted as a raised plateau. The bright region currently is regarded as ". . . slightly tilted, but not higher than, the darker surrounding regions." Dunes dominate Titan's equatorial belt. Yet, Xanadu exhibit's the unexplained phenomenon of blockage of sand dune formation.

The International Astronomical Union approved Xanadu as the vast bright region's name in 2006. The Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature traces the name to an "imaginary country" described in Kubla Khan, the English Romantic poem published in 1816 by English poet, literary critic, philosopher and Anglican theologian Samuel Taylor Coleridge (Oct. 21, 1772-July 25, 1834).

Synthetic-Aperture Radar (SAR) image, obtained July 25, 2016, during Cassini spacecraft's T121 flyby of Titan's southern latitudes, captures area nicknamed Xanadu Annex's rugged mountainous terrains, which resemble bright albedo feature Xanadu's hilly or mountainous landscapes; imaged area, illuminated from bottom by radar at a 30-degree incidence angle and centered at approximately 30 degrees south latitude and 60 degrees west longitude, covers about 155 by 310 miles (250 by 500 kilometers); image addition date 2016-09-07; image credit NASA/NPL-Caltech/ASI: 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.

Dedication

This post is dedicated to the memory of our beloved blue-eyed brother, Charles, who guided the creation of the Met Opera and Astronomy posts on Earth and Space News. We memorialized our brother in "Our Beloved Blue-Eyed Brother, Charles, With Whom We Are Well Pleased," published on Earth and Space News on Thursday, Nov. 18, 2021, an anniversary of our beloved father's death.

Image credits:

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International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. “Categories (Themes) for Naming Features on Planets and Satellites.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Documentation > Surface Feature Categories.
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International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. “Coordinate Systems for Planets and Satellites.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Documentation > Target Coordinate Systems.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/TargetCoordinates

International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. “Descriptor Terms (Feature Types).” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Documentation > Descriptor Terms.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/DescriptorTerms

International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. “Target: Titan.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Nomenclature > Saturn.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Page/TITAN/target

International Astronomical Union (IAU) Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN). "Aztlan.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. Last updated Oct. 1, 2006.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/6983

International Astronomical Union (IAU) Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN). “Fensal.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. Last updated Oct. 1, 2006.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/7011

International Astronomical Union (IAU) Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN). “Quivira.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. Last updated Oct. 1, 2006.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/6988

International Astronomical Union (IAU) Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN). “Shangri-La.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. Last updated April 20, 2009.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/6990

International Astronomical Union (IAU) Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN). “Xanadu.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. Last updated Oct. 1, 2006.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/6958

Jaumann, Ralf; Randolph L. Kirk; Ralph D. Lorenz; Rosaly M.C. Lopes; Ellen Stofan; Elizabeth P. Turtle; Horst Uwe Keller; Charles A. Wood; Christophe Sotin; Laurence A. Soderblom; and Martin G. Tomasko. "Chapter 5 Geology and Surface Processes on Titan." Pages 75-140. In: Robert H. Wood, Jean-Pierre Lebreton and J. Hunter Waite, eds., Titan From Cassini-Huygens. Dordrecht, Netherlands; Heidelberg, Germany; London UK; New York NY: Springer, 2009.
Available @ http://lasp.colorado.edu/~espoclass/ASTR_5835_Fall-2017-Review%20Chapters-Titan/5-Geology%20and%20Surface%20Processes%20on%20Titan.pdf

Jet Propulsion Laboratory. "PIA08425: Radar Images the Margin of Xanadu." NASA JPL Photojournal. Image addition date 2006-05-03.
Available @ https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA08425

Jet Propulsion Laboratory. "PIA08428: Xanadu: Rivers Flowed Onto a Sunless Sea." NASA JPL Photojournal. Image addition date 2006-05-05.
Available @ https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA08428

Jet Propulsion Laboratory. "PIA08429: Impact Craters on Xanadu." NASA JPL Photojournal. Image addition date 2006-05-05.
Available @ https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA08429

Jet Propulsion Laboratory. "PIA08449: Complex Terrain." NASA JPL Photojournal. Image addition date 2006-05-09.
Available @ https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA08449

Jet Propulsion Laboratory. "PIA10654: Tectonics on Titan." NASA JPL Photojournal. Image addition date 2006-05-21.
Available @ https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA10654

Jet Propulsion Laboratory. "PIA11701: Infrared Map of Titan's Active Regions." NASA JPL Photojournal. Image addition date 2008-12-15.
Available @ https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA11701

Jet Propulsion Laboratory. "PIA11702: Active Cryovolcanic Features on Titan?" NASA JPL Photojournal. Image addition date 2008-12-15.
Available @ https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA11702

Jet Propulsion Laboratory. "PIA11822: Skirting Xanadu's Southern Boundary." NASA JPL Photojournal. Image addition date 2009-03-06.
Available @ https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA11822

Jet Propulsion Laboratory. "PIA12988: Dunes, Tectonics and Possible Ice Volcanoes on Titan?" NASA JPL Photojournal. Image addition date 2010-05-11.
Available @ https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA12988

Jet Propulsion Laboratory. "PIA13331: Mountains on the Northwest Border of Xanadu, Titan." NASA JPL Photojournal. Image addition date 2010-08-12.
Available @ https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA13331

Jet Propulsion Laboratory. "PIA14311: Circular Feature at Xanadu, Titan." NASA JPL Photojournal. Image addition date 2011-07-14.
Available @ https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA14311

Jet Propulsion Laboratory. "PIA14500: Titan: Putting it all Together." NASA JPL Photojournal. Image addition date 2011-08-01.
Available @ https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA14500

Jet Propulsion Laboratory. "PIA20712: The 'Xanadu Annex' on Titan." NASA JPL Photojournal. Image addition date 2016-09-07.
Available @ https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA20712

Jet Propulsion Laboratory. "PIA20714: The 'Xanadu Annex' on Titan (Denoised)." NASA JPL Photojournal. Image addition date 2016-09-07.
Available @ https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA20714

Jet Propulsion Laboratory. "PIA21923: Seeing Titan with Infrared Eyes." NASA JPL Photojournal. Image addition date 2018-07-18.
Available @ https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA21923

Lopes, R.M.C.; M.J. Malaska; A. M. Schoenfeld; A. Solomonidou; S.P.D. Birch; M. Florence; A.G. (Alexander Gerard) Hayes; D.A. Williams; J. Radebaugh; T. Verlander; E. (Elizabeth) P. Turtle; A. (Alice) Le Gall; and S. Wall. "A Global Geomorphologic Map of Saturn's Moon Titan." Nature Astronomy, vol. 4, issue 3 (March 2020): 228-233.
Available via NIH (National Institutes of Health) NLM (U.S. National Library of Medicine) NCBI (National Center for Biotechnology Information) @ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7271969/
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Lorenz, Ralph. Exploring Planetary Climate: A History of Scientific Discovery on Earth, Mars, Venus and Titan. Cambridge UK; New York NY; Melbourne, Australia; New Delhi, India; Singapore: Cambridge University Press, 2019.

Lorenz, Ralph; and Jacqueline Mitton. Titan Unveiled: Saturn's Mysterious Moon Explored. Princeton NJ; Woodstock UK: Princeton University Press, 2008.

Marriner, Derdriu. "Aaru Is Equatorial Dark Albedo Feature on Titan's Saturn-Facing Side." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2022.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/01/aaru-is-equatorial-dark-albedo-feature.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Adiri Is Equatorial Bright Albedo Feature on Titan's Anti-Saturn Side." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Jan. 26, 2022.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/01/adiri-is-equatorial-bright-albedo.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Aztlan Is Equatorial Dark Albedo Feature on Titan's Saturn-Facing Side." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2022.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/02/aztlan-is-equatorial-dark-albedo.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Belet Is Equatorial Dark Albedo Feature on Titan's Anti-Saturn Side." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Feb. 9, 2022.
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Marriner, Derdriu. "Ching-Tu Is Equatorial Dark Albedo Feature on Titan's Anti-Saturn Side." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Feb. 16, 2022.
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Marriner, Derdriu. "Dilmun Is Equatorial Bright Albedo Feature on Titan's Anti-Saturn Side." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2022.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/02/dilmun-is-equatorial-bright-albedo.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Fensal Is Equatorial Dark Albedo Feature on Titan's Saturn-Facing Side." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, March 2, 2022.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/03/fensal-is-equatorial-dark-albedo.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Mezzoramia Is South Polar Dark Albedo Feature on Titan's Saturn Side." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, March 9, 2022.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/03/mezzoramia-is-south-polar-dark-albedo.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Quivira Is Equatorial Bright Albedo Feature on Titan's Saturn Side." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, March 16, 2022.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/03/quivira-is-equatorial-bright-albedo.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Senkyo Is Equatorial Dark Albedo Feature on Titan's Saturn-Facing Side." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, March 23, 2022.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2021/08/senkyo-is-equatorial-dark-albedo.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Shangri-La Is Equatorial Dark Albedo Feature on Titan's Far Side." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, March 30, 2022.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/03/shangri-la-is-equatorial-dark-albedo.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Titan Has Eight Low Albedo Features That Darken Its Surface." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2022.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/01/titan-has-eight-low-albedo-features.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Titan Has Five High Albedo Features That Brighten Its Surface." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Jan. 5, 2022.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/01/titan-has-five-high-albedo-features.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Tsegihi Is Mid-Latitude Bright Albedo Feature on Titan's Saturn Side." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, April 6, 2022.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/04/tsegihi-is-mid-latitude-bright-albedo.html

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Wednesday, April 6, 2022

Tsegihi Is Mid-Latitude Bright Albedo Feature on Titan's Saturn Side

Summary: Tsegihi is a mid-latitude bright albedo feature on Titan's Saturn side that is one of only two albedo features centered outside the equatorial belt.

Titan VIMS (Visible and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer) image shows southern mid-latitude-centered bright albedo feature Tsegihi (center right) with northwestern bright albedo feature Xanadu (upper left) on Titan's Saturn-facing side: map credit NASA/JPL/University of Airzona, via IAU/USGS Astrogeology Science Center Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature

Tsegihi is a southern mid-latitude bright albedo feature on Titan's Saturn side that occurs as one of only two Titanean albedo features that are not centered on the Saturnian moon's equatorial belt.

Tsegihi is centered at minus 40 degrees south latitude, 10 degrees west longitude, according to the International Astronomical Union’s (IAU) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. The Gazetteer repeats the bright albedo feature's center coordinates for its northernmost-southernmost latitudes and easternmost-westernmost longitudes.

Tseigihi's southern mid-latitude location qualifies it as one of Titan's only two albedo features that are centered outside the equatorial belt. Tsegihi's southern mid-latitude residence also places the bright albedo feature in proximity to dark Mezzoramia, Titan's other non-equatorial belt-centered albedo feature.

Mezzoramia is centered at minus 70 degrees south latitude, 0 degrees of longitude. Titan's only south polar region albedo feature's center latitude and longitude are given as its northernmost-southernmost latitudes and easternmost-westernmost longitudes, respectively.

Xanadu lies to the northwest of Tsegihi. The highly reflective feature is described as Titan's "largest, brightest region" (5.3.1 Morphology, page 81) by planetary scientist Ralf Jaumann and 10 co-authors in "Geology and Surface Processes on Titan," chapter five of Titan From Cassini-Huygens, published in 2009 under the editorship of Robert H. Brown, Jean-Pierre Lebreton and J. Hunter Waite.

Bright Xanadu is centered at minus 15 degrees south latitude, 100 degrees west longitude. The southern equatorial belt-centered feature records northernmost and southernmost latitudes of 10 degrees north and minus 40 degrees south, respectively. It registers easternmost and westernmost longitudes of 65 degrees west and 150 degrees west, respectively. Xanadu's diameter spans 3,400 kilometers.

High reflectance distinguishes both Tsegihi and Xanadu amid the Titanean surface's extensive patchwork of brightness and darkness, according to University of Arizona Lunar and Planetary Laboratory planetary scientist Jason W. Barnes and 34 co-authors in their report, "A 5-Micron-Bright Spot on Titan: Evidence for Surface Diversity," published in the Oct. 7, 2005, issue of Science. An unusually bright spot, with coordinates of minus 20 degrees south latitude, 80 degrees west longitude, lies to the northwest of Tsegihi and to the southeast of Xanadu.

The Tsegihi-Xanadu neighborhood's bright spot was identified at W.M. Keck Observatory, on Mauna Kea in north central Hawaii ("the Big Island") via the adaptive optics (AO) system's ground-based imaging on the Keck II 10-meter telescope. The Cassini spacecraft's Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS) subsequently made consistent observations of the bright spot for nine months, from July 2004 through April 2005.

Spectral comparisons of Tsegihi, the intervening bright spot and Xanadu confirm the lack of sameness in Titan's bright features. Wavelengths shorter than 5 microns (5 μm) find Xanadu exceeding Tsegihi in brightness. Xanadu's registration as dimmer than Tsegihi at 5 microns might suggest that Xanadu may contain more water ice than Tsegihi, as water ice exhibits high absorptivity at 5 microns (pages 94, 95). The bright spot's overall brightness conforms with Xanadu, with the exception of its similarity to Tsegihi in outshining Xanadu at 5 microns. Images created from co-added, 5 micron-wavelength VIMS frames reveal the bright spot's outshining of Tsegihi by 17 percent and of Xanadu by "nearly a factor of 2" (page 94).

Carbon dioxide (CO2) ice generally tracks high reflectivity in the same short-wavelength atmospheric windows as water ice on Titan. Carbon dioxide ice, however, outshines water ice at the 5 micron wavelength. As such, planetary scientist Jason Barnes and his 34 co-authors suggest possible compositions of "eroded layers of CO2 or more recent overlying deposits" (page 95) for Tsegihi and the Tsegihi-Xanadu neighborhood's bright spot.

The International Astronomical Union approved Tsegihi's name in 2006. The Gazetter of Planetary Nomenclature explains Tsegihi as a "Navajo sacred place." According to IAU convention, names for Titan's albedo features are derived from names in the world's cultures for celestial, enchanting, paradisiacal or sacred places.

Detail of Titan With ISS (Imaging Science Subsystem) Background shows bright Tsegihi (center right) with southern albedo feature neighbor dark Mezzoramia (lower right) and northwestern albedo feature neighbor bright Xanadu (upper left): map credit NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute, via IAU/USGS Astrogeology Science Center Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature

Acknowledgment

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

Dedication

Barnes, Jason W.; Robert H. Brown; Elizabeth P. Turtle; Alfred S. McEwen; Ralph D. Lorenz; Michael Janssen; Emily L. Schaller; Michael E. Brown; Bonnie J. Buratti; Christophe Sotin; Caitlin Griffith; Roger Clark; Jason Perry; Stephanie Fussner; John Barbara; Richard West; Charles Elachi; Antonin H. Bouchez; Henry G. Roe; Kevin H. Baines; Giancarlo Bellucci; Jean-Pierre Bibring; Fabrizio Capaccioni; Priscilla Cerroni; Michel Combes; Angioletta Coradini; Dale P. Cruikshank; Pierre Drossart; Vittorio Formisano; Ralf Jaumann; Yves Langevin; Dennis L. Matson; Thomas B. McCord; Phillip D. Nicholson; and Bruno Sicardy. "A 5-Micron-Bright Spot on Titan: Evidence for Surface Diversity." Science, vol. 310, issue 5745 (Oct. 7, 2005): 92-95.
Available @ http://web.gps.caltech.edu/~mbrown/papers/ps/5micron.pdf

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International Astronomical Union (IAU) Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN). “Tsegihi.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. Last updated Oct. 1, 2006.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/6991

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Available @ https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA21923

Roe, H. G.; I. de Pater; S. G. Gibbard; B. A. Macintosh; C. E. Max; E. F. Young; M. E. Brown; and A. H. Bouchez. "A New 1.6-Micron Map of Titan’s Surface." Geophysical Research Letters, vol. 31, no. 17 (September 2004): L17S03.
Available via Wiley Online Library @ https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/19448007/2004/31/17

Wednesday, March 30, 2022

Shangri-La Is Equatorial Dark Albedo Feature on Titan's Far Side

Summary: Shangri-La is an equatorial dark albedo feature on Titan's far side that lies to the east of the Huygens probe's January 2005 landing site.

Image, obtained July 25, 2016, during flyby T122, with Cassini spacecraft's Synthetic Aperture radar (SAR) shows Shangri-La Sand Sea as landforms patterned by wind and topography; illumination of scene by radar from upper right at a 27-degree incidence angle; image addition date 2016-09-07; image credit NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASI: May be used for any purpose without prior permission, via NASA JPL Photojournal

Shangri-La is an equatorial dark albedo feature on Titan's far side that lies in eastern proximity to the Huygens probe's Jan. 14, 2005, landing site in the northeastern edge of Adiri, Shangri-La's western neighbor.

Shangri-La is centered at minus 10 degrees south latitude, 165 degrees west longitude, according to the International Astronomical Union’s (IAU) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. The Gazetteer identifies the dark albedo feature's center latitude and longitude as its northernmost and southernmost latitudes and its easternmost and westernmost longitudes, respectively.

Bright albedo feature Adiri neighbors to the west of Shangri-La. Adiri is centered at minus 10 degrees south latitude, 210 degrees west longitude. The southern equatorial belt-centered bright feature's center coordinates are repeated as its northernmost-southernmost latitudes and easternmost-westernmost longitudes.

Western Shangri-La borders the landing site of the Cassini-Huygens Mission's Huygens probe. The European Space Agency's Huygens probe separated from the Cassini spacecraft on Christmas, Dec. 25, 2004, and touched down Jan. 14, 2005, on Adiri's northeastern edge.

Shangri-La's northern neighbor is Dilmun. The bright albedo feature is centered at 15 degrees north, 175 degrees west longitude. Dilmun's center latitude and longitude are given as its northernmost-southernmost latitudes and easternmost-westernmost longitudes, respectively.

Shangri-La's eastern neighbor is Xanadu. The bright albedo feature is centered at minus 15 degrees south latitude, 100 degrees west longitude. Xanadu's northernmost and southernmost latitudes extend to 10 degrees north and minus 40 degrees south, respectively. Its easternmost and westernmost longitudes stretch to 65 and 150 degrees west, respectively. Xanadu's diameter spans 3,400 kilometers.

Dunes, comprised of dunes and interdunes, dominate Titan's equatorial belt. The southern and northern low latitude landform is described as dune fields and as dune, or sand, seas.

Shangri-La's abundant dunes appear to evince their thickest sand deposits in the dark albedo feature's south-southeast regions, along Shangri-La's boundary with northwestern Xanadu, according to planetary geologist B.D. Lake and five co-authors in their report, "Sand Distribution and Possible Surface Albedo Influences in the Shangri-La Sand Sea of Titan," presented Wednesday, May 13, 2020, at the Sixth International Planetary Dunes Workshop. Shangri-La's relative sand abundances are interpreted as 17 percent high thickness, 70 percent moderate thickness and 13 percent thin deposits.

Highland topography occurs in both northern and southern Shangri-La. Shangri-La's southeastern margins, however, abruptly encounter Xanadu's lowlands. Apart from a northern east-west aligning ridge, Xanadu favors low elevations. Lake and the presentation's five co-authors consider colliding air currents of Xanadu's katabatic, or cold density-driven, winds with Shangri-La's sand-bearing westerlies, as a possible explanation for the unusual geomorphology of thick highland deposits along a lowland interface.

Another phenomenon of thickness appears as a narrow strip of thick sand cutting through the primarily moderate sand coverage of eastern Shangri-La's southwestern region. The thickly deposited corridor could represent accumulations shaped by prevailing wind direction in a low-elevated area.

Shangri-La numbered as one of three areas examined for the presence of acetylene by planetary scientist Sandeep Singh and eight co-authors in their study, "Acetylene on Titan's Surface," published in the Sep. 1, 2016, issue of The Astrophysical Journal. No acetylene was detected at Tui Regio, an equatorial basin located to the east of Shangri-La. The parallel dark albedo duo of Fensal and Aztlan, sited to the east of Shangri-La and Tui Regio on Titan's Saturn-facing side, exhibited strong absorption bands of acetylene. The study's targeted area of eastern Shangri-La revealed the strongest detection and the general presence of acetylene on Shangri-La's terrain of dark dune seas. The successful detection of acetylene on Titan's surface in the dune seas of dark Fensal-Aztlan and dark Shangri-La confirmed the study's predicted association of acetylene with low albedo features.

Northwestern Shangri-La has been selected as the landing site for NASA's planned astrobiology mission's rotorcraft, Dragonfly. Launch date has been scheduled for June 2027, according to editor Tricia Talbert's Titan feature, "Dragonfly Launch Moved to 2027," published Sep. 25, 2020, and updated Aug. 4, 2021. Dragonfly is expected to reach Titan by 2034.

The International Astronomical Union approved Shangri-La's name in 2006. The Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature originates the name in the "Tibetan mythical land of eternal youth." The spelling of the dark albedo feature's name was changed from the approved Shangri-la to Shangri-La in April 20, 2009, to conform with the idyllic land's spelling in Lost Horizon, published in 1933 by English novelist James Hilton (Sep. 9, 1900-Dec. 20, 1954).

Titan VIMS (Visible and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer) image shows equatorial dark albedo feature Shangri-La (upper left) with northern neighbor, bright Dilmun, and eastern neighbor, bright Xanadu, on Titan's anti-Saturn, far side: map credit NASA/JPL/University of Airzona, via IAU/USGS Astrogeology Science Center Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature

Acknowledgment

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

Dedication

Hautaluoma, Grey; and Alana Johnson; and Karen Northon, page ed. "NASA's Dragonfly Will Fly Around Titan Looking for Origins, Signs of Life." NASA > Press Release. Release 19-052. June 27, 2019. Last updated March 17, 2020.
Available @ https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasas-dragonfly-will-fly-around-titan-looking-for-origins-signs-of-life/

International Astronomical Union (IAU) Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN). “Adiri.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. Last updated Oct. 1, 2006.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/6982

International Astronomical Union (IAU) Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN). “Dilmun.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. Last updated Oct. 1, 2006.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/6986

International Astronomical Union (IAU) Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN). “Hagal Planitia.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. Last updated Dec. 28, 2015.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/15467

International Astronomical Union (IAU) Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN). “Rossak Planitia.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. Last updated Dec. 28, 2015.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/15466

Jet Propulsion Laboratory. "PIA09804: Adiri in View." NASA JPL Photojournal. Image addition date 2007-12-31.
Available @ https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA09804

Jet Propulsion Laboratory. "PIA20710: Flowing Dunes of Shangri-La." NASA JPL Photojournal. Image addition date 2016-09-07.
Available @ https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA20710

Jet Propulsion Laboratory. "PIA20711: Flowing Dunes of Shangri-La (Denoised)." NASA JPL Photojournal. Image addition date 2016-09-07.
Available @ https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA20711

Jet Propulsion Laboratory. "PIA21923: Seeing Titan with Infrared Eyes." NASA JPL Photojournal. Image addition date 2018-07-18.
Available @ https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA21923

Lake, B.D.; J. (Jani) Radebaugh; E.H. Christiansen; D. Rose; J.W. (Jason W.) Barnes; and E.P. (Elizabeth P.) Turtle. "Sand Distribution and Possible Surface Albedo Influences in the Shangri-La Sand Sea of Titan." Sixth International Planetary Dunes Workshop (Virtual), May 12-13, 2020(LPIContrib.No.2188)
Available @ https://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/dunes2020/pdf/3047.pdf

Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI) Universities Space Research Association (USRA). "Sixth International Planetary Dunes Workshop: Program and Abstracts." LPI Contribution No. 2188. Houston TX: Lunar and Planetary I
Available @ file:///tmp/mozilla_stn201-020/LPI-002188.pdf

Rannou, P. (Pascal); D. Toledo; P. Lavvas; E. D'Aversa; M.L. Moriconi; A. Adriani; S.Le Mouélic; C. Sotin; and R. Brown. "Titan's Surface Spectra at the Huygens Landing Site and Shangri-La." Icarus, vol. 270 (May 15, 2016): 291-306.
Available via ScienceDirect @ https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0019103515004212

Talbert, Tricia, ed "Dragonfly Launch Moved to 2027." NASA > Feature > Titan. Sep. 25, 2020; last updated Aug. 4, 2021.
Available @ https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasas-dragonfly-will-fly-around-titan-looking-for-origins-signs-of-life

Watanabe, Susan, page ed. "In Shangri-La." NASA > Missions > Current Missions > Cassini-Huygens > Multimedia Features. June 27, 2007.
Available @ https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/cassini/multimedia/pia08971.html

Wednesday, March 23, 2022

Senkyo Is Equatorial Dark Albedo Feature on Titan's Saturn-Facing Side

Summary: Senkyo is an equatorial dark albedo feature on Titan's Saturn-facing side that forms a low albedo quartet with Aaru, Aztlan and Fensal.

image of dark albedo duo of Senkyo (right center) and Aaru (above), obtained Dec. 12, 2008, by Cassini spacecraft's Narrow-Angle Camera (NAC), using a spectral filter with sensitivity to 938 nanometer-centered near-infrared light wavelengths; image obtained at an approximate distance of 2.361 million kilometers (1.467 million miles) from Titan and at a Sun-Titan-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 26 degrees; image addition date 2009-01-27; image credit NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute: May be used for any purpose without prior permission, via NASA JPL Photojournal

Senkyo is an equatorial dark albedo feature on Titan's Saturn-facing side that forms an equatorial quartet of low albedo, or low reflectance, with the three optically dark neighboring regions of Aaru, Aztlan and Fensal.

Senkyo is centered at minus 5 degrees south latitude, 320 degrees west longitude, according to the International Astronomical Union’s (IAU) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. The Gazetteer repeats the optically dark albedo feature's center latitude and longitude as its northernmost and southernmost latitudes and its easternmost and westernmost longitudes, respectively.

Senkyo's far western longitudinal location in Titan's equatorial belt allows the low reflector to cluster with three dark, equatorial neighbors. Southern equatorial-centered Senkyo presents a dark quartet with northern equatorial-centered Aaru and Aztlan and southern equatorial-centered Fensal.

Aaru is centered to the northwest of Senkyo in Titan's northern equatorial belt. Aaru's center latitude and longitude are 10 degrees north and 340 degrees west, respectively.

Fensal is centered to the northeast of Senkyo in Titan's northern equatorial belt. The dark albedo feature records center coordinates of 5 degrees north latitude, 30 degrees west longitude.

Aztlan is centered to the southeast of Senkyo in Titan's southern equatorial belt. The lower reflector registers minus 10 degrees south as its center latitude and 20 degrees west longitude as its center longitude.

The quartet's prominent darkness in Titan's equatorial belt appears to represent "vast and continuous dune fields," according to NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory's (JPL) Photojournal website's post, "Saturn's View of Titan," published July 28, 2006. The extensive, dark, dune landforms are composed of solid hydrocarbon particles that precipitated from Titan's smoggy atmosphere, according to Photojournal's "Spying on Senkyo," published April 8, 2013. An unknown process has aggregated the hydrocarbon particles into 0.04-inch grains, according to NASA JPL editor and writer Jia-Rui C. Cook's post, "Cassini Sees the Two Faces of Titan's Dunes," published Jan. 23, 2012, on the NASA website's Cassini-Huygens mission pages.

The dunes that are responsible for the equatorial quartet's low albedo occur as Titan's second most dominant landform, outnumbered only by plains. Dunes cover an area of 4 million square miles (10 million square kilometers), which equates to about 13 percent of Titan's surface, according to Cook's post. Titan's dunes are found only in the moon's equatorial belt, between 30 degrees north latitude and 30 degrees south latitude.

Bright plateaus border Senkyo's dune-filled plains, according to planetary scientist Bonnie J. Buratti and nine co-authors in their article, "A Newly Discovered Impact Crater in Titan's Senkyo," published in the January 2012 issue of Planetary and Space Science. During the Cassini spacecraft's T61 flyby, conducted Aug. 25, 2009, the spacecraft's onboard Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS) observed a circular feature with center coordinates of 5.4 degrees north latitude, 341 degrees west longitude. The unknown feature superimposed Senkyo's low albedo dunes and one of the surrounding, high albedo plateaus. The authors note Paxsi as the newly discovered landform's official name.

Paxsi nudges Senkyo's northern neighbor, Aaru, with its location in the brightly reflective terrain that interrupts the equatorial belt's dark expanses. Paxsi is centered at 5 degrees north latitude, 341.2 degrees west longitude, according to the Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. The circular feature registers northernmost and southernmost latitudes of 6.7 degrees north and 3.7 degrees north, respectively. It obtains its easternmost and westernmost longitudes at 339.8 degrees west and 342.6 degrees west, respectively. Paxsi's diameter measures 120 kilometers.

The International Astronomical Union's convention for Titan's albedo features calls for names, presented in the world's cultural legends, myths, poems and stories, for "Sacred or enchanted places, paradise, or celestial realms." The IAU approved Senkyo's name in 2006. The Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature identifies the name's origin in the "Japanese ideal realm of aloofness and serenity, freedom from worldly cares and death."

Senkyo's Titanean environment, however, appears as "less welcoming" than a Japanese paradise, according to NASA JPL Photojournal's "Frozen Paradise," published March 2, 2015. Titan's average temperature approximates minus 290 degrees below zero Fahrenheit (minus 180 degrees Celsius). The inhospitable temperature freezes water to rock-hardness.

A break in Titan's clouds reveals optically dark albedo feature Senkyo; image obtained Oct. 12, 2009, by Cassini spacecraft's Narrow-Angle Camera (NAC), using a spectral filter with sensitivity to 938 nanometer-centered near-infrared light wavelengths; image acuired at an approximate distance of 296,000 kilometers (184,000 miles) from Titan and at a Sun-Titan-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 11 degrees; image addition date 2009-12-02; image credit NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute: May be used for any purpose without prior permission, via NASA JPL Photojournal Astrogeology Science Center's Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature

Acknowledgment

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

Dedication

A break in Titan's clouds reveals optically dark albedo feature Senkyo; image obtained Oct. 12, 2009, by Cassini spacecraft's Narrow-Angle Camera (NAC), using a spectral filer with sensitivity to 938 nanometer-centered near-infrared light wavelengths; image acuired at an approximate distance of 296,000 kilometers (184,000 miles) from Titan and at a Sun-Titan-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 11 degrees; image addition date 2009-12-02; 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/PIA11636; via NASA Image and Video Library @ https://images.nasa.gov/details-PIA11636

For further information:

Brossier, J. F. (Jeremy Florian): S. (Sébastien) Rodriguez; T. Cornet; A. Lucas; J. Radebaugh; L. (Luca) Maltagliati; S. (Stéphane) Le Mouélic; A. (Anezina) Solomonidou; A. (Athena) Coustenis; M. (Mathieu) Hirtzig; R. (Ralf) Jaumann; K. Stephan; and C. Sotin. "Geological Evolution of Titan's Equatorial Regions: Possible Nature and Origin of the Dune Material." Journal of Geophysical Research JGR Planets, vol. 123, issue 5 (May 2018): 1089-1112.
Available via Wiley Online @ https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2017JE005399
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