Cassini Provides Virtual Flyover of Saturn's Moon Titan

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2009-058

Cassini Provides Virtual Flyover of Saturn's Moon Titan
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
March 24, 2009

PASADENA, Calif. - "Fly me to the moon"-to Saturn's moon Titan, that
is.
New Titan movies and images are providing a bird's-eye view of the
moon's Earth-like landscapes.

The new flyover maps show, for the first time, the 3-D topography and
height of the 1,200-meter (4,000-foot) mountain tops, the north polar
lake country, the vast dunes more than 100 meters (300 feet) high that
crisscross the moon, and the thick flows that may have oozed from
possible ice volcanoes.

The topographic maps were made from stereo pairs of radar images. They
are available at: http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov and
http://www.nasa.gov/cassini .

Cassini radar team member Randy Kirk with the Astrogeology Science
Center at the U.S. Geological Survey in Flagstaff, Ariz., created the
maps. He used some of the 20 or so areas where two or more overlapping
radar measurements were obtained during 19 Titan flybys. These stereo
overlaps cover close to two percent of Titan's surface. The process of
making topographic maps from them is just beginning, but the results
already reveal some of the diversity of Titan's geologic features.

"These flyovers let you take in the bird's-eye sweeping views of
Titan,
the next best thing to being there," said Kirk. "We've mapped many
kinds
of features, and some of them remind me of Earth. Big seas, small
lakes,
rivers, dry river channels, mountains and sand dunes with hills poking
out of them, lava flows."

Kirk will present these results today at the Lunar and Planetary
Science
Conference in The Woodlands, Texas.

High and low features are shown in unprecedented detail at about
2.4-kilometer (1.5-mile) resolution. The maps show some features that
may be volcanic flows. These flows meander across a shallow basin in
the
mountains. One area suspected to be an ice volcano, Ganesa Macula,
does
not appear to be a volcanic dome. It may still have originated as a
volcano, but it's too soon to know for sure. "It could be a volcanic
feature, a crater, or something else that has just been heavily
eroded,"
added Kirk.

The stereo coverage includes a large portion of Titan's north polar
lakes of liquid ethane and methane. Based on these topographical
models,
scientists are better able to determine the depth of lakes. The
highest
areas surrounding the lakes are some 1,200 meters (about 4,000 feet)
above the shoreline. By comparing terrain around Earth to the Titan
lakes, scientists estimate their depth is likely about 100 meters (300
feet) or less.

More 3-D mapping of these lakes will help refine these depth estimates
and determine the volume of liquid hydrocarbons that exist on Titan.
This information is important because these liquids evaporate and
create
Titan's atmosphere. Understanding this methane cycle can provide clues
to Titan's weather and climate.

Launched in 1997, Cassini completed its primary four-year mission in
2008 and is now in extended mission operations, which run through
September 2010. Over the course of the mission, Cassini plans to map
more than three percent of Titan's surface in 3-D. About 38 percent of
Titan's surface has been mapped with radar so far. On March 27,
Cassini
will complete its 52nd targeted flyby of Titan.

The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the
European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. JPL manages the
Cassini-Huygens mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate. The
Cassini orbiter was designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The
radar
instrument was built by JPL and the Italian Space Agency, working with
team members from the United States and several European countries.

Media Contact: Carolina Martinez 818-354-9382
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
carolina.martinez@xxxxxxxxxxxx

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