ESA Science & Technology - No. 16 - Successful Titan-B flyby

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No. 16 - Successful Titan-B flyby

Monday, 13 December 2004, at 11:38 UT, Cassini-Huygens successfully executed its second targeted flyby of Saturn's largest moon Titan. At closest approach the spacecraft came to within 1200 kilometres of the moon's surface, allowing for observations at a similar resolution of those made during the first targeted encounter on 27 October 2004.

Data from the UVIS will be used to improve the model of Titan's atmosphere, necessary to validate the altitude of future flybys. It will provide valuable information for the upcoming descent of the Huygens Probe in January 2005.

The ISS targeted several regions that were also observed during the previous flyby on 27 October, allowing for the detection of possible changes in the surface patterns.

Science Results

The following is a selection of images returned from the Cassini imaging systems. Click on an image to access a high resolution version and full caption details.

	Haze silhouettes against Titan's glow Wavelength: Infrared Distance to Titan: 158 000 km Resolution: -
	Spying Titan's weather Wavelength: Near Infrared Distance to Titan: 225 000 km Resolution: -
	Titan's many layers Wavelength: Ultraviolet Distance to Titan: - Resolution: 0.7 km per pixel
	Mosaic of surface coverage Wavelength: Near Infrared Distance to Titan: 80 900 to 42 400 km Resolution: Scaled to 1.2 km per pixel
	Titan's mid-latitude clouds Wavelength: Infrared Distance to Titan: - Resolution: 0.6 km per pixel
	Approaching Titan again Wavelength: Infrared Distance to Titan: 1 746 000 km Resolution: 10.4 km per pixel
	Titan's dark terrain Wavelength: 938 nm Distance to Titan: 125 900 km Resolution: 735 m per pixel
	Titan Wavelength: 918 nm Distance to Titan: 178 600 km Resolution: 10.5 km per pixel
	Titan Wavelength: 890 nm Distance to Titan: 124 800 km Resolution: 7.5 km per pixel
	Titan's surface Wavelength: Infrared Distance to Titan: 810 000 km Resolution: 4.8 km per pixel