NASA’s Cassini robotic orbiter captured this view of Titan during a moderately close flyby on November 13, 2015.
This composite image shows an infrared view of Titan. In this image blue represents wavelengths centered at 1.3 microns, green represents 2.0 microns, and red represents 5.0 microns. A view at visible wavelengths would show only Titan’s hazy atmosphere; the near-infrared wavelengths in this image allow Cassini’s vision to penetrate the haze and reveal the moon’s surface. The view looks toward terrain that is mostly on the Saturn-facing hemisphere of Titan. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / Space Science Institute.
This view was recorded by Cassini’s visual and infrared mapping spectrometer (VIMS) at a distance of approximately 6,200 miles (10,000 km).
The scene features the parallel, dark, dune-filled regions named Fensal (to the north) and Aztlan (to the south), which form the shape of a sideways letter ‘H.’
Several places on the image show the moon’s surface at higher resolution than elsewhere.
These areas show more detail because they were acquired near closest approach.
Near the limb at left, above center, is the best VIMS view so far of Titan’s largest confirmed impact crater, Menrva.
Similarly detailed subframes show eastern Xanadu, the basin Hotei Regio, and channels within bright terrains east of Xanadu.
Due to the changing Saturnian seasons, in this late northern spring view, the illumination is changed from that seen by Cassini’s mapping spectrometer during the December 2005 flyby.
The Sun has moved higher in the sky in the northern hemisphere of the moon, and lower in the sky in the south, as northern summer approaches.
This change in the Sun’s angle with respect to Titan’s surface has made high southern latitudes appear darker, while northern latitudes appear brighter.
