Posted on 11/24/2014 12:45:57 PM PST by SunkenCiv
Explanation: What would it look like to fly over Titan? Radar images from NASA's robotic Cassini satellite in orbit around Saturn have been digitally compiled to simulate such a flight. Cassini has swooped past Saturn's cloudiest moon several times since it arrived at the ringed planet in 2004. The virtual flight featured here shows numerous lakes colored black and mountainous terrain colored tan. Surface regions without detailed vertical information appear more flat, while sufficiently mapped regions have their heights digitally stretched. Among the basins visualized is Kraken Mare, Titan's largest lake which spans over 1,000 kilometers long. Titan's lakes are different from Earth's lakes in that they are composed of hydrocarbons with similarities to liquid natural gas. How Titan's lakes were created and why they survive continues to be a topic of research.
(Excerpt) Read more at 129.164.179.22 ...
[Credit: Cassini Radar Mapper, JPL, USGS, ESA, NASA]
bump for later
Huygens: Titan Descent Movie (2005.01.14)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtYDPj6eFLc
http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap060508.html
http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap130121.html
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/2980243/posts
This is a bit unclear to me.
They indicated that these were images compiled by actual photos, but said it was a *virtual* flyby. Was this pieced together from different flights/images to simulate an orbit around Titan?
It looks very cool none the less!
Way cool. Thanks
This joke posted just for the humorless.
The images are compiled from radar scans of the surface and digitally stitched to give it a familiar look and feel. An actual photographic scan would require entering Titan’s atmosphere which Cassini is not prepared to do.
I think this is considered virtual because it’s compiled from radar data and still photos.
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