Seeing Titan with infrared eyes

Seeing Titan with infrared eyes

5 years ago
Anonymous $L9wC17otzH

https://phys.org/news/2019-01-titan-infrared-eyes.html

Thanks to Cassini, which studied Saturn and its rings and moons for thirteen years, Titan was extensively mapped and analysed. One result is this stunning sequence of images created using data acquired by Cassini's Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS), whose infrared observations peered through Titan's atmosphere, complementing the views obtained by Huygens during descent and on the surface. The maps combine data from the multitude of different observations made under a wide variety of illumination and viewing conditions over the course of the mission, stitched together in a seamless mosaic to provide the best representation of Titan's surface to date.

The colours reflect variations in materials on the moon's surface. For example, the moon's equatorial dune fields appear a consistent brown colour, while bluish and purple hues may indicate materials enriched in water ice.

                                                            
                                    
                                    Explore further: 
Seeing Titan with infrared eyes