Titan: An astrobiological vision from the Cassini-Huygens data - 2008

RENEE M. CONDORI APAZA

ASL – NASA AMES

Orange and Blue HazesThese views from Cassini look toward the south polar region of Saturn'slargest moon, Titan, and show a depression within the moon's orange andblue haze layers near the south pole.

The close-up view was captured with the narrow-angle camera. Another viewtaken a second later with the wide-angle camera is also included here forcontext.The moon's high altitude haze layer appears blue here whereas the mainatmospheric haze is orange. The difference in color could be due to particlesize of the haze. The blue haze likely consists of smaller particles than theorange haze.The depressed or attenuated layer appears in the transition area between theorange and blue hazes about a third of the way in from the left edge of thenarrow-angle image. The moon's south pole is in the upper right of thisimage. This view suggests Titan's north polar vortex, or hood, is beginning toflip from north to south.

DISR instrument

Lamp

ImagersDLIS

DLVS

Cassini's Superhuman Senses

Optical Remote SensingMounted on the remote sensing pallet, these instruments study Saturn and its rings and moons in the electromagnetic spectrum.Composite Infrared Spectrometer (CIRS)Imaging Science Subsystem (ISS)Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrograph (UVIS)Visible and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS)Fields, Particles and WavesThese instruments study the dust, plasma and magnetic fields around Saturn. While most don't produce actual "pictures," the information they collect is critical to scientists' understanding of this rich environment.Cassini Plasma Spectrometer (CAPS)Cosmic Dust Analyzer (CDA)Ion and Neutral Mass Spectrometer (INMS)Magnetometer (MAG)Magnetospheric Imaging Instrument (MIMI)Radio and Plasma Wave Science (RPWS)Microwave Remote SensingUsing radio waves, these instruments map atmospheres, determine the mass of moons, collect data on ring particle size, and unveil the surface of Titan.RadarRadio Science (RSS)