New radar images of Titan show surprisingly familiar terrain on Saturn’s largest moon. The radar images show a strip 4,500 km (2,796 miles) long, straight through the Xanadu region. Some images show hills, valleys and dark sand dunes cut by river networks – the similarity to Earth is striking. Of course, Titan is so cold it can’t be water; these rivers are probably formed by liquid methane or ethane. Cassini will return to Titan on Saturday, July 22 and capture images of the northern latitudes.
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Rhea Obscures Titan
In this photograph, Saturn’s moon Titan is partly obscured by smaller moon Rhea. The difference between the moons’ atmosphere is quite pronounced, as Titan has a thick smoggy atmosphere, while Rhea is airless. Cassini took this photograph on June 11, 2006 when it was approximately 3.6 million kilometers (2.2 million miles) from Rhea.
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One Moon in Light, One in Dark
This Cassini image shows Saturn’s shadowy side, its rings, and two of its moons: Mimas and Enceladus. Mimas is on the left, and shows its dark side, while Enceladus is on the far side of the rings, closer to Saturn, and is illuminated by the reflected sunlight from Saturn’s bright side. Cassini took this photo on June 11, 2006 when it was 3.9 million kilometers (2.5 million miles) from Mimas.
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Epimetheus in Saturn’s Glare
Look at this photograph very carefully. Just below Saturn’s rings, to the left of the bright side of the planet is its tiny moon Epimetheus (116 km or 72 miles across). This moon hugs the outside edge of Saturn’s F ring, beyond the orbit of Pandora. Cassini took this photograph on June 9, when it was approximately 4 million kilometers (2.5 million miles) from Epimetheus.
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Spray of Ice from Enceladus
This Cassini photograph shows Saturn’s moon Enceladus spraying water ice from its southern pole. And if you look carefully, you can also see Rhea’s southern pole just peeking out from below Saturn’s rings. Cassini took this photograph on June 9, 2006 when it was approximately 3.9 million kilometers (2.4 million miles) from Enceladus.
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Secrets Revealed in Saturn’s Faintest Rings
New photos of Saturn’s E ring shows how it has a similar double-banded structure to Jupiter’s ring. Thanks to data gathered by Cassini, scientists now believe that the E ring particles originate from water geysers on Saturn’s moon Enceladus. The double-banded appearance occurs because there are actually less particles at the ring plane than there are above and below it. Scientists believe the double structure is created by the trajectory of particles ejected from Enceladus, or through ongoing interactions between the moon and the ring.
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The Mysteries of Enceladus
NASA’s Cassini spacecraft has been on the hunt for atomic oxygen since it arrived at Saturn. The source turned out to be a thin atmosphere of water vapour surrounding Saturn’s moon Enceladus. Cassini flew past the mysterious moon in July 2005, skimming within 175 kilometres (109) of the surface. It discovered that large dark cracks around its southern pole were warm and spewing out water vapour and ice particles. Cassini is due for a second look in 2008 when it will make another close flyby.
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Ring of Light Around Titan
Titan glows with a ring of sunlight in this photograph. The picture was taken by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft when Titan was lit almost completely from behind, and it shows how the light scatters through its thick atmosphere. Cassini took this photo on June 2, 2006 when it was approximately 2.3 million kilometers (1.5 million miles) from Titan.
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Cassini’s Mission is Half Over
NASA’s Cassini spacecraft will reach the half-way point of its 4 year mission on Friday – it arrived at Saturn on June 20, 2004. Although the spacecraft has already visited Titan 15 times, it’ll pick up the pace for the remainder of its mission, performing another 30 flybys. Starting in July, mission controllers will begin altering Cassini’s orbit with respect to the Sun by nearly 180-degrees. This will give it a bird’s eye view of Saturn’s ring system.
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Saturn’s Tiny Moon Polydeuces
We’re accustomed to seeing photographs of Saturn’s larger moons, like Titan, Dione and Enceladus. Here’s an image of one of its smallest: newly discovered Polydeuces. This moon is only 3 km (2 miles) across, and shares the same orbit as much larger Dione. Cassini took this photo on May 22, 2006 when it was approximately 73,000 kilometers (45,000 miles) away.
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