Titan Images Reveal Complex Surface

by | Jan 14, 2005 | Outer Solar System

The first images coming back from Titan are raw (i.e., unprocessed), and we’ll have more (up to 350, apparently) available soon. The first picture shows what appear to be drainage channels, as you can see below.

Titan from descending HuygensThis is one of the first raw, or unprocessed, images from the European Space Agency’s Huygens probe as it descended to Saturn’s moon Titan. It was taken with the Descent Imager/Spectral Radiometer, one of two NASA instruments on the probe. Credit: ESA/NASA/University of Arizona

First image from HuygensThe second image (via Emily Lakdawalla in Darmstadt) seems to be from the surface. Notice the rounded rocks, perhaps evidence of erosion from some kind of liquid (though I notice JPL is calling these ice blocks rather than ‘rocks’). Now comes the fun part: we’ll be getting details and more images all night long and unravelling the data will take months. What a story, and what a triumph for ESA, NASA and the Italian Space Agency!

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In Centauri Dreams, Paul Gilster looks at peer-reviewed research on deep space exploration, with an eye toward interstellar possibilities. For many years this site coordinated its efforts with the Tau Zero Foundation. It now serves as an independent forum for deep space news and ideas. In the logo above, the leftmost star is Alpha Centauri, a triple system closer than any other star, and a primary target for early interstellar probes. To its right is Beta Centauri (not a part of the Alpha Centauri system), with Beta, Gamma, Delta and Epsilon Crucis, stars in the Southern Cross, visible at the far right (image courtesy of Marco Lorenzi).

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