CICLOPS: Cassini Imaging Central Laboratory for OPerationS
Spying on Titan

Spying on Titan
PIA 14639
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   Cassini spies Titan's south polar vortex from below the moon in this image. Imaging scientists are monitoring the vortex to study its seasonal development.

For a color image of the south polar vortex on Titan, see PIA14919. For a movie of the vortex, see PIA14920.

This view looks toward the anti-Saturn hemisphere of Titan (3200 miles, 5150 kilometers across). North on Titan is up and rotated 36 degrees to the left. The image was taken with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Sept. 13, 2012 using a spectral filter sensitive to wavelengths of near-infrared light centered at 889 nanometers.

The view was obtained at a distance of approximately 1 million miles (1.6 million kilometers) from Titan and at a Sun-Titan-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 73 degrees. Image scale is 6 miles (9 kilometers) per pixel.

The Cassini Solstice Mission is a joint United States and European endeavor. 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 imaging team consists of scientists from the US, England, France, and Germany. The imaging operations center and team lead (Dr. C. Porco) are based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo.

For more information about the Cassini Solstice Mission visit http://ciclops.org, http://www.nasa.gov/cassini and http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov.

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute
Released: December 17, 2012 (PIA 14639)
Image/Caption Information


Alliance Member Comments
JKoulouris (Jan 9, 2013 at 1:30 PM):
J.R.R. TOLKIENS' "LORD OF THE RINGS" join FRANK HERBERTS' "DUNE" on the SURFACE of TITAN -

The International Astronomical Union and Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (IAU / WGPSN) have Officially Adopted the Names of Mountains and Peaks from J.R.R. Tolkien's fictional fantasy novels for the Official Naming of Mountains and Peaks (MONS and MONTES)on the Surface of Saturns' Major Moon TITAN.

You can Access the Official IAU/WGPSN Press Release (published on: November 12, 2012), and a Map of the Surface of TITAN showing TITAN Officially Adopted Surface Feature Nomenclature from the IAU/USGS Astrogeology / Planetary Gazetteer WebSite at;


IAU/WGPSN/USGS Official Press Release;

http://astrogeology.usgs.gov/HotTopics/index.php?/archives/463-Eight-New-Names-for-Titan-Surface-Features.html


Map of the Surface of TITAN with IAU/WGPSN Officially Adopted Nomenclature;

http://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/images/Titan_comp_VIMSimage.pdf


Best Regards to CAROLYN, the CICLOPS CASSINI IMAGING TEAM and their Colleagues, as Well as the Members of the IAU / WGPSN, USGS Astro Branch, JPL/CIT, NASA, the European Space Agency, and all our Sector 6 Members and CICLOPS Participants.

John Koulouris, (Esq.)
Planetary Cartographer / Author
ASTEREION - ORION Project
Laval, Canada.