PDS logoPlanetary Data System
PDS Information
Find a Node - Use these links to navigate to any of the 8 publicly accessible PDS Nodes.

This bar indicates that you are within the PDS enterprise which includes 6 science discipline nodes and 2 support nodes which are overseen by the Project Management Office at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC). Each node is led by an expert in the subject discipline, supported by an advisory group of other practitioners of that discipline, and subject to selection and approval under a regular NASA Research Announcement.
Click here to return to the Photojournal Home Page Click here to view a list of Photojournal Image Galleries Photojournal_inner_header
Latest Images  |  Spacecraft & Technology  |  Animations  |  Space Images App  |  Feedback  |  Photojournal Search  

PIA11702: Active Cryovolcanic Features on Titan?
 Target Name:  Titan
 Is a satellite of:  Saturn
 Mission:  Cassini-Huygens
 Spacecraft:  Cassini Orbiter
 Instrument:  Radar Mapper
 Product Size:  3000 x 2250 pixels (w x h)
 Produced By:  JPL
 Full-Res TIFF:  PIA11702.tif (6.759 MB)
 Full-Res JPEG:  PIA11702.jpg (437.8 kB)

Click on the image above to download a moderately sized image in JPEG format (possibly reduced in size from original)

Original Caption Released with Image:

The Cassini Radar Mapper imaged Titan on Feb. 22, 2008 (as shown on the left) and April 30, 2006 (as shown on the right).

These radar images show the outlines of regions "1" and "2" identified by Cassini's visual and infrared mapping spectrometer and inferred to be variable (see VIMS flat map, PIA11701), and which have been hypothesized to be due to cryovolcanic activity. The lobate, flow-like features in region 1 are consistent with this interpretation.

Region 1 is just north of the feature named Hotei Arcus and is centered on 28 degrees south latitude by 78 degrees west longitude. The region is about 400 kilometers (249 miles) across. Region 2 is on the western part of Xanadu and is centered on 7 degrees south latitude by 135 degrees west longitude. This region is about 900 kilometers (560 miles) across. In both cases, north is up, and features as small as 300-500 meters can be resolved.

The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. NASA's 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 radar instrument was built by JPL and the Italian Space Agency, working with team members from the United States and several European countries.

For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.cfm.

Image Credit:
NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASI

Image Addition Date:
2008-12-15