Cassini’s third and fourth radar flybys, T7 and T8, covered diverse terrains in the high southern and equatorial latitudes, respectively. The T7 synthetic aperture radar (SAR) swath is somewhat more straightforward to understand in terms of a progressive poleward descent from a high, dissected, and partly hilly terrain down to a low flat plain with embayments and deposits suggestive of the past or even current presence of hydrocarbon liquids. The T8 swath is dominated by dunes likely made of organic solids, but also contain somewhat enigmatic, probably tectonic, features that may be partly buried or degraded by erosion or relaxation in a thin crust. The dark areas in T7 show no dune morphology, unlike the dark areas in T8, but are radiometrically warm like the dunes. The Huygens landing site lies on the edge of the T8 swath; correlation of the radar and Huygens DISR images allows accurate determination of its coordinates, and indicates that to the north of the landing site sit two large
Titan's diverse landscapes as evidenced by Cassini RADAR's third and fourth looks at Titan / J. I., Lunine; C., Elachi; S. D., Wall; M. A., Janssen; M. D., Allison; Y., Anderson; R., Boehmer; P., Callahan; P., Encrenaz; E., Flamini; G., Franceschetti; Y., Gim; G., Hamilton; S., Hensley; W. T. K., Johnson; K., Kelleher; R. L., Kirk; R. M., Lopes; R., Lorenz; D. O., Muhleman; R., Orosei; S. J., Ostro; F., Paganelli; P., Paillou; Picardi, Giovanni; F., Posa; J., Radebaugh; L. E., Roth; Seu, Roberto; S., Shaffer; L. A., Soderblom; B., Stiles; E. R., Stofan; S., Vetrella; R., West; C. A., Wood; L., Wye; H., Zebker; G., Alberti; E., Karkoschka; B., Rizk; E., Mcfarlane; C., See; B., Kazeminejad. - In: ICARUS. - ISSN 0019-1035. - 195:1(2008), pp. 415-433. [10.1016/j.icarus.2007.12.022]
Titan's diverse landscapes as evidenced by Cassini RADAR's third and fourth looks at Titan
PICARDI, Giovanni;SEU, Roberto;
2008
Abstract
Cassini’s third and fourth radar flybys, T7 and T8, covered diverse terrains in the high southern and equatorial latitudes, respectively. The T7 synthetic aperture radar (SAR) swath is somewhat more straightforward to understand in terms of a progressive poleward descent from a high, dissected, and partly hilly terrain down to a low flat plain with embayments and deposits suggestive of the past or even current presence of hydrocarbon liquids. The T8 swath is dominated by dunes likely made of organic solids, but also contain somewhat enigmatic, probably tectonic, features that may be partly buried or degraded by erosion or relaxation in a thin crust. The dark areas in T7 show no dune morphology, unlike the dark areas in T8, but are radiometrically warm like the dunes. The Huygens landing site lies on the edge of the T8 swath; correlation of the radar and Huygens DISR images allows accurate determination of its coordinates, and indicates that to the north of the landing site sit two largeI documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
