Results at Titan - October, 27th 2004
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Titan's VIMS images, acquired on the 26th of October 2004 appear featureless when simply displayed in monochromatic light. The surface is masked by the dense and rich in organic aerosol atmosphere. |
The following RGB images were built up by using the spectral channel indicated in the enclosed average spectra; several other elaborations will be released by using other spectral channels in order to investigate the different aspect of Titan's structure and composition. In this case the image were processed to highlight the surface morphology seen through the methan windows of the satellite dense atmosphere. In fact, as in the case of the Earth, the atmosphere becomes transparent where absorption bands are absent or faint: this allows to retrieve the surface signal.
The complex structure of the Titan surface emerges from the hazes in this sequence of IR images: a possible depression is seen, in dark color, at the center of the image. It is possible also to identify a broad plateau, previously named Xanadu, as well as a light cloud.
Titan is surrounded by an extended region (about 1/3 of Titan's radius) where stratospheric methane undergoes by fluorescence thanks to the solar radiation. In the image this region is shown in green and the emission peak around 3333 nm is evident in the spectrum (up, in green).
To know more read the Press release
Text and data: Angioletta Coradini, Giuseppe Piccioni, Gianrico Filacchione