Discussion: Titan's Bright Side

[Fraser]

SUMMARY: Cassini captured this image of Titan's bright side during its recent flyby on August 21, 2005. The photograph was taken when Cassini was 213,000 kilometers (132,000 miles) from Titan. This picture is a natural image, which shows the thick smoggy atmosphere that normally blocks views of the moon's surface.

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[antoniseb]

Cassini is a great mission. Titan is a very interesting body in the solar system. It is cool that we are seeing through the clouds and mapping it out, and finding large impact craters. Somehow, I've been finding the images of the smaller moons, the rings, and Saturnian weather more interesting.

I am hopeful that some scientist can start posting here that will respark my interest in Titan with some insights as to what new things we will find there in the thirty or more future fly-bys of this giant moon.

[cran]

antoniseb, is your waning enthusiasm for Titan in any way linked to the 'backtracking' about whether there is definitely liquid on the surface... perhaps you are sharing the mission team's disappointment over the reduced confidence in finding some active liquid chemistry? :huh:

That said, it's hard not to be caught up in the spectacular imagery that Saturn's atmosphere, rings and attendant moons can provide...