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Titan Flyby (T-108) : A Return to Titan’s Shorelines and Channels

See the sun glinting off of Titan's north polar seas in this near-infrared, color mosaic from NASA's Cassini spacecraft. The mirror-like reflection is in the south of Titan's largest sea, Kraken mare. This view was acquired on Aug. 21, 2014.

Cassini's radar used its synthetic aperture radar (SAR) mode to obtain images of Titan’s seas in order to look for changes. Observations of the shorelines of Titan’s huge polar seas, Ligeia and Kraken, began approximately an hour before closest approach. The closest approach SAR data, and the most unique observation of this flyby, captured the labyrinth of channels between Kraken mare and Ligeia mare. Other RADAR observations included inbound and outbound scatterometry and radiometry, as well as outbound altimetry in high-altitude areas.

Date
Jan. 11, 2015

Altitude
603 miles (970 km)

Speed
12,974 mph (5.8 km/sec)