New Ground-based Telescope Images of Titan’s Surface Released
According to a press release by the Paris-Meudon
Observatory “some of the best images ever obtained by a ground-based telescope of Saturn’s mysterious moon Titan will be presented by Dr. Athena Coustenis of the Paris-Meudon
Observatory, France, at the General Assembly of the International Astronomical Union in Manchester (UK) on Tuesday 15th August. The new infrared images, obtained with the
3.6-metre Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT) in Hawaii, confirm earlier observations showing that there is a brightly reflecting area in the equatorial zone extending over
about 50 degrees of longitude. There are at least three individual bright features within this area.”
Titan’s atmosphere is about four times as dense as Earth’s and is composed primarily Nitrogen laced with methane and ethane. The moon is covered with a dense haze which is formed as methane is destroyed over time by sunlight (photodissociation) a process which can also cause photochemical smog to form on Earth. The nature of the atmosphere makes observations in visible light by spacecraft (as well as Earth-based telescopes) somewhat unrevealing. Infrared observations are therefore required to peer through the haze. The exact nature of these bright features is still somewhat uncertain inasmuch as they might represent highlands, lowlands, or even oceans. Oceans of methane and ethane are possible given what is known about conditions on Titan, however radar measurements of Titan have not provided evidence to support their existence.
Titan will be visited by the Huygens lander which is due to enter Titan’s atmosphere in November 2004. It is capable of floating for a few minutes should it land in one of these oceans.
Related Links
° New images of Titan’s surface, press release, Observatoire de Paris-Meudon-Nancay
° High resolution images, Observatoire de Paris-Meudon-Nancay
° Conference Press Releases, International Astronomical Union XXIVth General Assembly, 7 – 18 August 2000 Manchester, UK
° Observatoire de Paris-Meudon-Nancay
° Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope
Background Information
° Hubble Space Telescope images of Titan’s surface (1994), University of Arizona
° Hubble Observes Surface of Titan, NASA Photojournal
° Spatially Resolved Images of Titan by Means of Adaptive Optics, [abstract], Icarus 129, [1997] pp. 482-497.
° Seasonal Photochemical and Meridional Transport Model for the Stratosphere of Titan [abstract] Icarus [145] pp. 428-444.
° Titan’s Surface, Revealed by HST Imaging [abstract] Icarus [119] pp. 336-349.