December 10, 2004

As Cassini swung around to the dark side of the planet during its first close passage after orbit insertion, the intrepid spacecraft spied three ring moons whizzing around the planet. Visible in this image are: Mimas brightest and above center; Janus second brightest at upper left; and Prometheus just above the main rings at upper left. The normally bright B ring appears very dark from this vantage point. Regions with smaller concentrations of particles, such as the Cassini division (bright near center) transmit more sunlight and thus are brighter.
From the Dark Side - (PIC)

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December 13, 2004

This fantastic close-up of Saturn's outer C ring shows large and sharp changes in brightness across the rings, owing to the extreme variations in ring particle concentrations at different distances from the planet. The dark gap running through the center contains the Maxwell ringlet, as well as a faint, narrow ringlet discovered in Cassini images. Another very dark region to the right of the Maxwell gap is also a narrow gap.
Plateaus and Gaps - (PIC)

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December 13, 2004

This map of Titan's surface illustrates the regions that will be imaged by the Cassini spacecraft during the spacecraft's second close flyby of Titan on Dec. 13, 2004. The colored lines delineate the regions that will be imaged at differing resolutions. The lower-resolution imaging sequences (outlined in blue) are designed to study the atmosphere, clouds, and surface in a variety of spectral filters, and to make movies of the evolution of clouds over time scales of hours. Other areas have been specifically targeted for moderate and high resolution mosaicking of surface features. These include the site where the European Space Agency's Huygens probe is predicted to touch down in mid-January (marked with the yellow X), part of the bright region named Xanadu (easternmost extent of the coverage area), and a boundary between dark and bright regions. The map shows only brightness variations on Titan's surface. (The illumination is such that there is no shading due to topographic variations). Previous observations indicate that due to Titan's thick, hazy atmosphere, the sizes of surface features that can be resolved are a few to five times the actual pixel scale labeled on the map.
Encountering Titan Again - (PIC) - (MOVIE)

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December 13, 2004

This map of Saturn's moon Dione, generated from Cassini images taken during the spacecraft's first two orbits of Saturn, illustrates the imaging coverage planned during Cassini's first Dione flyby on Dec. 14, 2004. Colored lines enclose regions that will be covered at different imaging scales as Cassini approaches Dione.
First Flyby of Dione - (PIC) - (MOVIE)

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VideoTalk: Huygens to unmask Titan

14 December 2004 What does Titan hide under its thick orange haze? After a seven-year journey aboard the Cassini orbiter, the Huygens probe will make a daring dive down through the atmosphere of Saturn's mysterious moon Titan. Will it land with a splash or a thud? Find out more in VideoTalk.

VideoTalk: Huygens to unmask Titan

Greetings from Germany NRW
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December 14, 2004

This image was taken on Dec. 11, 2004 by the Cassini spacecraft as it approached Titan for its second close encounter with this intriguing moon. The bright and dark regions near the center of the frame are features on Titan's surface. The image has been processed to make features more visible. The surface contrast is degraded toward the edges of the disk due to the effects of Titan's smoggy atmosphere. The region seen here is similar to that seen during Cassini's first close flyby of Titan in October (see PIA06141). The bright area toward the bottom of the image is the region dubbed "Xanadu." North is to the upper right.
Second Titan Targeted Flyby #1 - (PIC)

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December 14, 2004

This image was taken during Cassini's very close approach to Titan on Dec. 13, 2004. The view shows pronounced banding in the Titan atmosphere. The image has been processed to enhance the banding, but a few artifacts of the imaging process, such as the small "doughnut" shape at right, remain.
Second Titan Targeted Flyby #2 - (PIC)

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December 14, 2004

This image was taken during Cassini's very close approach to Titan on Dec. 13, 2004. Bright streaks of cloud in Titan's southern hemisphere are visible. Linear clouds such as these have appeared intermittently in this region of Titan.
Second Titan Targeted Flyby #3 - (PIC)

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December 14, 2004

This view from Cassini's second close flyby of Titan on Dec. 13, 2004 shows bright material within the large dark region west of Xanadu. The area in this image is a region that has not previously been seen by Cassini at this high resolution.
Titan's Dark Terrain - (PIC)

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December 14, 2004

Moon Watch
Images and science results from Cassini's flyby of Saturn moons Titan and Dione this week will be presented on Thursday, Dec. 16, at a news conference hosted at the American Geophysical Union meeting in San Francisco. Selected images of the Monday Titan flyby and earlier images of Dione are available on the Titan-B and Dione flyby page. Visit the Cassini Raw Image Gallery for the latest images from the spacecraft.

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here is a spezial Version also for the Kids


Hit Me

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December 16, 2004

Cassini has found Titan's upper atmosphere to consist of a surprising number of layers of haze, as shown in this ultraviolet image of Titan's night side limb, colorized to look like true color. The many fine haze layers extend several hundred kilometers above the surface. Although this is a night side view, with only a thin crescent receiving direct sunlight, the haze layers are bright from light scattered through the atmosphere. The image was taken with the Cassini spacecraft narrow angle camera.
Before And After Look At Saturn's Moon Titan - (PIC)

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December 16, 2004

Evidence of changing weather patterns in the skies over Titan's southern region are revealed in these false color images obtained by the Cassini spacecraft's visual infrared mapping spectrometer over two recent flybys of this largest of Saturn's satellites. In the first image (left), obtained on the Oct, 26, 2004 Titan flyby, from a distance of some 200,000 kilometers (124,300 miles), Titan's skies are cloud-free, except for a patch of clouds observed over the south pole near the bottom of the image. In contrast, the image on the right shows a recent view of this same area of Titan obtained seven weeks later on the second close Titan flyby on Dec. 13, 2004, from a distance of 225,000 kilometers (139,800 miles). This image clearly shows that several extensive patches of clouds have formed over temperate latitudes. The appearance of these clouds reveals the existence of weather. Tracking these features is currently underway by scientists, who hope to gain a better understanding of global circulation, regional weather patterns, and localized meteorology in Titan's skies. The colors red, green, and blue represent near-infrared images obtained at 2.01 micron, 2.83 micron and 2.13 micron, respectively. These colors explore the surface and atmosphere of Titan with varying effectiveness. The red color images the surface at a wavelength (2.01 micron) where the surface is relatively bright, making the surface appear reddish in these color images. The green color (2.83 micron) images the surface as well, but due to enhanced absorption of sunlight by the surface and lower atmosphere, the surface is relatively dark here compared to the red. The blue color (2.13 micron) is at a wavelength where sunlight cannot reach the surface at all due to strong absorption by the atmospheric gas methane. In contrast to the reddish surface, bright clouds at a relatively high altitude (here, about 30 kilometers (19 miles) above the ground) residing above most of the atmospheric absorption appear whitish in these representations, as they reflect sunlight effectively in all three near-infrared colors.
Spying Titan's Weather - (PIC)

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December 16, 2004

Cassini captured Dione against the globe of Saturn as it approached the icy moon for its close rendezvous on Dec. 14, 2004. This natural color view shows the moon has strong variations in brightness across its surface, but a remarkable lack of color, compared to the warm hues of Saturn's atmosphere. Several oval-shaped storms are present in the planet's atmosphere, along with ripples and waves in the cloud bands. The images used to create this view were obtained with the Cassini spacecraft wide-angle camera at a distance of approximately 603,000 kilometers (375,000 miles) from Dione through a filter sensitive to wavelengths of ultraviolet light centered at 338 nanometers. The Sun-Dione-spacecraft, or phase, angle is 34 degrees. The image scale is about 32 kilometers (20 miles) per pixel.
Dione and Saturn - (PIC)

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December 16, 2004

This very detailed image taken during the Cassini spacecraft's closest approach to Saturn's moon Dione on Dec. 14, 2004 is centered on the wispy terrain of the moon. To the surprise of Cassini imaging scientists, the wispy terrain does not consist of thick ice deposits, but rather the bright ice cliffs created by tectonic fractures.
Highest Resolution View of Dione - (PIC)

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December 17, 2004

This dazzling view of Tethys (1,060 kilometers, or 659 miles across) shows the tremendous rift called Ithaca Chasma, which is 100 kilometers (60 miles) wide in places, and runs nearly three-fourths of the way around the icy moon. Adjacent to the great chasm is a large multi-ring impact basin with a diameter of about 300 kilometers (185 miles). The inner ring of the basin is about 130 kilometers (80 miles) in diameter. The moon’s heavily cratered face is indicative of an ancient surface. This view shows principally the Saturn-facing hemisphere of Tethys. The image was taken in visible light with the narrow angle camera on December 15, 2004, from a distance of approximately 560,000 kilometers (348,000 miles) from Tethys and at a Sun-Tethys-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 91 degrees. The image scale is about 3 kilometers (2 miles) per pixel.
Tethys' Great Rift - (PIC)

December 20, 2004

Three sizeable impact craters, including one with a marked central peak, lie along the line that divides day and night on the Saturnian moon, Dione (1118 kilometers, 695 miles across). The low angle of the Sun along the terminator, as this dividing line is called, brings details like these craters into sharp relief. This view shows principally the leading hemisphere of Dione. Some of this moon’s bright, wispy streaks can be seen curling around the moon’s eastern limb. Cassini imaged the wispy terrain at high resolution during its first Dione flyby on December 14, 2004. The image was taken in visible light with Cassini’s narrow angle camera on November 1, 2004, from a distance of 2.4 million kilometers (1.5 million miles) from Dione and at a Sun-Dione-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 106 degrees. North is up. The image scale is 14 kilometers (8.7 miles) per pixel. The image has been magnified by a factor of two and contrast enhanced to aid visibility of surface features.
Craters 'Twixt Day and Night - (PIC)

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VideoTalk: A feat of engineering

Once released from the Cassini spacecraft, the Huygens probe will start its descent through the Titan atmosphere. A big radio dish protects Huygens instruments and three parachutes open in sequence to slow the probe down. Learn more about this incredible engineering challenge in VideoTalk

look this very interesting Video
VideoTalk: A feat of engineering

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sorry off the Topic ___ byron
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to Sir Ulli __ Merry Chrismass ! and _ health _ happiness _ prosperity _ and _ peace _ in the , new Year , 2005
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