CICLOPS: Cassini Imaging Central Laboratory for OPerationS

Lit Through the Haze
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Lit Through the Haze
PIA 12606
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   Cassini looks toward the dark side of Titan as a circle of light is produced by sunlight scattering through the periphery of the atmosphere of Saturn's largest moon.

A detached, high-altitude global haze layer encircles the moon. See PIA07774 to learn more. This view looks toward the leading hemisphere of Titan (5150 kilometers, 3200 miles across). North on Titan is up and rotated 32 degrees to the right.

The image was taken with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Aug. 7, 2009 using a spectral filter sensitive to wavelengths of near-infrared light centered at 619 nanometers. The view was obtained at a distance of approximately 1.2 million kilometers (746,000 miles) from Titan and at a Sun-Titan-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 160 degrees. Image scale is 7 kilometers (5 miles) per pixel.

The Cassini Equinox Mission is a joint United States and European endeavor. The 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 imaging team consists of scientists from the US, England, France, and Germany. The imaging operations center and team lead (Dr. C. Porco) are based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo.

For more information about the Cassini Equinox Mission visit http://ciclops.org, http://www.nasa.gov/cassini and http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov.

Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute
Released: April 7, 2010 (PIA 12606)
Image/Caption Information


Alliance Member Comments
JKoulouris (Apr 8, 2010 at 2:18 PM):
The name ARRAKIS has officially joined SIKUN and CHUSUK as a Planitia feature on the surface of Saturn's major moon, TITAN.
ARRAKIS Planitia was officially adopted on April 5, 2010 by the International Astronomical Union.

Here is the official News Release;


Three New Names Approved for Features on Titan

The names Arrakis Planitia, Polaznik Macula, and Uanui Virgae have been approved for features on Titan.
For more information, see the list of Titan surface features and the map of Titan in the Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature.

ENTRY_POSTED_BY Jennifer Blue on Monday, April 5, 2010 at 14:18. FILED_UNDER Planetary Nomenclature.


To view this IAU official decision online, you may visit the IAU/USGS News Release posted at the Planetary Gazetteer at the USGS Astrogeology Research Program's Website at;

http://astrogeology.usgs.gov/HotTopics/index.php?/archives/390-Three-New-Names-Approved-for-Features-on-Titan.html


An updated TITAN Map with adopted IAU/WGPSN Titan surface feature nomenclature can be accessed and viewed online at;

http://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/images/Titan_comp.pdf


This one should light up a few faces, young and old alike.


Best of Regards, and Best Wishes to everyone.

John A. Koulouris,(Esq.)
Planetary Cartographer / Writer
Astereion- Orion Project
Laval, Canada.

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