Dark Plains on Titan
Date: 01 December 2005
Satellite: Huygens
Copyright: ESA/NASA/JPL/University of Arizona/USGS
This perspective view shows dark plains on the surface of Saturn's moon Titan about 5 kilometres from the Huygens probe landing site. In this area many discrete bright feature are scattered across the dark plains.
This provides stereo coverage with a resolution of about 14 metres per pixel and a convergence angle of about 6 degrees. The perspective image is colour-coded in altitude with blue representing the lowest altitude and red the highest. The ridges in the centre of the view are about 50 metres high; the area covered is about 2.5 by 2.5 kilometres. The topographic features toward the bottom right part of the view are suggestive of flow and erosion by fluids on the surface.
A stereo pair of images (insert) was acquired from the Huygens descent imager/spectral radiometer. The left image was acquired from 12.2 kilometres above the surface with the high resolution imager; the right from 6.9 kilometres altitude with the medium resolution imager.
The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project between NASA, ESA and Italy's ASI space agency.
