Cassini-Huygens *2* - ...more Saturn/Titan...

Yang Liwei Rocket · 2004-10-30 09:55:57

Mimas, seen here beyond Saturn’s rings, is a major sculptor of Saturn's rings.

The 398 kilometer (247 mile)–wide moon not only maintains the Cassini Division (not seen here), a gap wide enough to be visible from Earth through a small telescope, but it is also responsible for two of the thin, bright bands visible in this image near the rings’ center, interior to the dark Encke gap.

http://ciclops.lpl.arizona.edu/media/dr … _724_1.jpg

Palomar · 2004-10-30 12:50:00

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=s … dc_2]Yahoo! article about Titan

*This is one of the better recent articles I've read. Snippets:

Titan may be covered by thick drifts of combustible organic "snow" floating on lakes of liquid methane or water and ammonia ice flows

"The surface could be very flammable"... "We imagine flammable swamps on Titan with liquid methane and flammable aerosols."

*Erm...the landing/splashing down of Huygens -- friction -- ???

sharply contrasting bright and dark areas with sharp and grooved features that scientists believe may be "wrinkle ridges," where the moon's thin plates collided.

The team also was surprised by the apparent absence of volcanic craters or vents they predicted would replenish methane that appears to be escaping from the atmosphere. "It has to come out of the interior," Owen said. "Somewhere in these mysterious radar images we're looking at has to be a way for this methane to come out."

*I stick by my hunch that Titan is relatively flat.

The data also seems to show that Titan could be covered in up to 656 feet of fluffy hydrocarbon "snow" that fell out of the heavy atmosphere

*Still not clear (no surprise) how much of the surface might be liquid or solid, etc.

--Cindy

remcook · 2004-10-30 13:55:18

flammable...the whole planet is flammable. It's the oxygen that's lacking!

John Creighton · 2004-10-30 14:47:43

flammable...the whole planet is flammable. It's the oxygen that's lacking!

Good observation

SpaceNut · 2004-10-30 19:04:47

It appears that Titan methane clouds are missing and that the nitrogen in Titan's atmosphere is heavy but less light form is present.

Titan Photos Pose New Questions

Palomar · 2004-10-30 19:23:39

http://www.wired.com/news/space/0,2697, … ad_1]Titan Photos Pose New Questions

*Great article. Compliments the one I posted earlier today.

Especially caught my attention (certain points may be a bit of a rehash, but new questions) [Propane?! Yipes...]:

When radar waves are used to create images of surfaces, areas that reflect more radio waves turn up as bright spots, while those that reflect fewer waves appear as dark spots. Some scientists believe the large, dark patches in the Titan images could be lakes full of liquid ethane and propane, which would absorb radio waves. *--->But if this is true, do the lakes have ripples and waves caused by the wind, or are they completely still?<----*
What happened to the "light" nitrogen in Titan's atmosphere?
Though plenty of "heavy" nitrogen exists in Titan's atmosphere, the amount of "light" nitrogen is much less than that found around several planets and our own moon. This suggests that the light nitrogen was lost somehow over a large period. It also raises the question: Why hasn't a portion of the methane in the atmosphere disappeared, too? Is it being replenished from a reservoir somewhere inside Titan?

Oh boy...my curiosity is going into overdrive. Don't know if I can wait for January! I'm telling my husband to nix any holiday gifts for me; 2004 in astronomy and space exploration has provided all the "gifts" I could ever want.

--Cindy

Palomar · 2004-10-31 07:59:48

http://www.saturntoday.com/news/viewsr. … ]*Upclose* pic of Tethys

*We've seen it from afar previously. But in this pic Cassini was only 253,453 km distance, taken Oct. 28. Nice. (I think Dione is lovelier with its gentle streaking patterns, but...)

All that pockmarking. Seems like "gentle" cratering as opposed to some of the nasty, deep, sharp-edged craters we see elsewhere in our Solar System.

--Cindy

RobS · 2004-11-01 00:08:27

It looks gentle probably because the craters are into ice that flows over time (just like glaciers flow). The flow is a function of the moon's gravity; Callisto's craters are fairly shallow as well. On smaller bodies the craters stay deeper longer.

-- RobS

Palomar · 2004-11-01 06:07:17

*Thanks Rob.

http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.htm … 375]F-Ring and Satellite?

*Unsure if they're wondering if this is a new moon or one they don't recognize. ??? Not much info in that teensy weensy caption.

--Cindy

Palomar · 2004-11-01 12:48:17

http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/gs2. … age]Streak in southern polar region

*Taken in September (why didn't they release it sooner? Is like mailing a postcard long after you've taken the holiday). :hm:

http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/gs2. … *Condensed movie of Cassini's 44-hour approach to Titan***

*Is taking a while to download. I don't see that anyone else has yet posted the movie.

--Cindy

C M Edwards · 2004-11-01 15:39:11

I believe there's still a good chance that Huygen's won't be able to accurately discern the surface texture upon landing.

Too many palm fronds in the way. :;):

(Sounds foolish? Don't sneer. It would explain all the extra methane.)

Palomar · 2004-11-03 12:45:37

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/cassini/0 … e.html]Pic on the right: Titan and haze BACKLIT :up: Cool!!

*Lost the web link and I've visited many sites today, but here's a snippet of an article pertaining to the backlit pic. Check out especially the reference to Earth and our Moon (haven't we all wondered about this??):

"During the evening, I checked the Cassini raw images site and saw an image I had to display. It was of Titan's atmospheric ring backlit - a view of Titan from its dark side showing the atmosphere lit up as a ring as sunlight shone through it (image right). From Cassini, the sun was eclipsed by Titan. This was coincidentally the same view anyone on [Earth's] Moon would have of Earth if they were on the Moon viewing the eclipse. The Earth would be dark and our atmosphere would glow as an orange ring."

--Cindy

SpaceNut · 2004-11-04 11:24:34

Saturn gets a shock

I could not have said it better so here it is. Also another thank for the HST.

A team of space scientists from France and the US has taken the first ever images of a geomagnetic storm on Saturn. The team believe that the storm was caused by an interplanetary shock wave that can be traced back to a coronal mass ejection at the Sun. The team has also been able to detect the effects of the shock on the Earth and Jupiter before it reached Saturn

Palomar · 2004-11-04 11:54:55

http://physicsweb.org/articles/news/8/11/2/1]Saturn gets a shock
I could not have said it better so here it is. Also another thank for the HST.

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap011223.html]Saturn Aurorae

*Probably I posted this a few years ago in one of the "New Discoveries" threads. Mentions Cassini mission (en route at the time); is dated 23 December 2001. Aurorae at both poles, HST's STIS instrument, ultraviolet.

Yes, I recall that incident in the article you linked to, SpaceNut.

--Cindy

Palomar · 2004-11-04 12:44:54

Huygens]http://www.universetoday.com/am/publish/earth_watching_huygens_arrives.html?4112004]Huygens' arrival

*A week or so ago I asked if Cassini will be snapping pics of Huygens during its release and beginnings of descent. According to this article, it can't. Perhaps Keck and/or Hubble will observe the descent.

As the ESA's Huygens probe makes its descent into Titan's thick atmosphere in January, telescopes here on Earth will be watching carefully to help understand the global condition of the moon's atmosphere. Cassini's job will be to communicate with Huygens, so it won't actually be able to take pictures of the moon while it's performing this vital task, so it's up to the Earth-based telescopes. There's a remote possibility that Hubble or the giant 10-metre Keck observatory will see a tiny fireball as Huygens enters Titan's atmosphere.

--Cindy

P.S.: Really like that illustration; have seen it before in a previous article.

::edit:: Also, radio telescopes to assist:

In addition to optical telescopes, a string of radio telescopes across America, Australia, China and Japan will team up to listen for the faint radio signal of Huygens itself. If they hear this tiny call, they will be able to help determine, after weeks of processing the Huygens amount of data that will be collected, the precise landing location for the probe on Titan’s surface.

:up: :band:

Palomar · 2004-11-05 13:21:47

*Check out the Grand Prize!! :band:

Got this from today's "Astronotes" at space.com (must copy and paste, is in updated column format):

November 5
Art Contest for Titan Landscapes
Saturn’s largest moon, Titan, may be covered with oceans of ethane, rolling hills, or ancient ice flows. For now, imaginations have free reign as to what lies beneath the moon’s thick, hazy atmosphere.
The Planetary Society is having an art contest to let people dream up Titan landscapes before some of that mystery is revealed by the European Space Agency’s Huygens probe, which is scheduled to parachute down onto Titan’s surface on Jan. 14, 2005.

Artists are invited to submit their vision of our shrouded neighbor in digital form or they can mail a hard copy in. The deadline for entries is Nov. 28, 2004 at 11:59 p.m. Pacific time.
*!!--->THE GRAND PRIZE is a trip to Darmstadt, Germany to be on site at ESA's Operations Center for the descent of the Huygens probe.<---!!* There are also four first prizes and up to 20 second prizes that will be divided between youths (age 10-17) and an adults (18 and over).
In addition, those artists from each section who most closely capture the view from the probe will win a framed and autographed Huygens photo of the Titan scenery.
All the winning artwork will be displayed at ESA's European Space Operations Center (ESOC) during the Huygens mission to Titan and winners will all receive a Planetary Society prize package. This contains: one year's free Planetary Society membership; a Certificate of Honour; a Cassini-Huygens Mission Patch; an ESA poster, pin and keychain; and a 'Nine Planets' lithograph set.

Contest mailing address and online entry forms are available at the ESA website.

--Cindy

remcook · 2004-11-06 05:17:17

P.S.: Really like that illustration; have seen it before in a previous article.

I always liked this one:

http://www.esa.int/export/externals/ima … ve/181.jpg

though it is faulty (Huygens will land on the anti-saturn side of Titan)

remcook · 2004-11-06 05:17:56

another one:

http://esamultimedia.esa.int/images/esa … 700363.jpg

Palomar · 2004-11-06 21:10:06

*Hi remcook: Nice images.

Titans]http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=15440]Titan's Surface Live & In Color (Radar image)

very few features on Titan resembling fresh impact craters are seen

The area shown is in the northern hemisphere of Titan and is about 150 kilometers (93 miles) wide by 300 kilometers (186 miles) long

Winding linear features that cut across dark areas may be ridges or channels, although their nature is not yet understood.

--Cindy

::edit::

http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/gs2. … ]Shredding a Cloud

Palomar · 2004-11-08 12:03:59

http://www.universetoday.com/am/publish … yovolcanic flow on Titan?

It could be that the smooth areas are cryovolcanic flows, where water-rich liquid has welled up from inside Titan's warmer interior and spread out on the surface.

--Cindy

Palomar · 2004-11-08 13:56:23

http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.htm … 51]Cassini Observations Show Dynamic Dance at Saturn :up:

Cassini-Huygens mission is reporting an ever-changing vista at the frontiers of Saturn, featuring wayward moons, colliding meteoroids, rippling rings and flickering auroras.
Larry Esposito of the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics said CU-Boulder's Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrometer, or UVIS, riding on Cassini is revealing a dynamic dance in the Saturn system. "Instead of a quiet panorama, UVIS sees rapidly changing phenomena, including interactions between the rings, moons, radiation belt, solar wind and the planet Saturn,"

*Did anyone expect a quiet panorama? ???

The UVIS research team also has noted significant brightening of the auroras at Saturn's poles as the solar wind periodically ramps up to speeds of 250 miles, or 400 kilometers, per second, Esposito said. "Dense puffs of the charged particles from the sun excite the hydrogen molecules in Saturn's upper atmosphere to glow more brightly."

--Cindy

Palomar · 2004-11-10 07:04:21

http://www.spacedaily.com/2004/04111000 … .html]More Titan news rolling in...ice volcano?

(This story could be linked to my Nov 8th post. Just a bit more information in conjunction with the previous post).

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/cassini/0 … ml]Sharper than ever

--Cindy

::edit:: (from 2nd link):

The size of the ring particles varies from dust specks to mountains, with most ranging between the size of marbles and boulders, he said.
The Cassini observations show dramatic variations in the number of ring particles over very short distances, Colwell said. The particles in individual ringlets are bunched closely together, with the amount of material dropping abruptly at the ringlet edge.
"What we see with the new observations is that some of the ring edges are very sharp," said Colwell.

::-another edit- (a truly excellent article, so exciting!!)::

The Cassini observations with UVIS show that the distance between the presence and absence of orbiting material at some ring edges can be as little as 160 feet, or 50 meters, about the length of a typical commercial jetliner, he said.
The sharp edges illustrate the dynamics that constrain the ring processes against their natural tendency to spread into nearby, empty space, said Colwell. "Nature abhors a vacuum, so it is likely gravity from a nearby small moon and ongoing meteoroid collisions confine the particles in the ring."
"Small moons near Saturn's rings stir the ring particles with their gravitational pull," Colwell said. At certain locations in the rings, known as resonances, the orbit of a particular moon matches up with the orbit of certain ring particles in a way that enhances the stirring process, he said.

:up:

SpaceNut · 2004-11-10 07:15:41

It is great what we have already learned of Saturns rings and more surprises are in store.
New wrinkle found in Saturn's rings

Titan has no breaking waves

C M Edwards · 2004-11-10 14:46:52

http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.j … 6652]Titan has no breaking waves

Aw, shucks.

Still, the chemical complexity of its atmosphere and general oddness of its surface keep me hopeful.

I'm still half expecting photographic evidence of life on Titan. :laugh:

SpaceNut · 2004-11-10 15:25:35

Here is a resource I think all will like.
Cassini: Voyage to Saturn and Titan

New Mars Forums

Announcement

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