Titan’s Tantalizing Streaks

December 17, 2004

PIA Number	PIA06985
Language	english

Titan's Tantalizing Streaks October 28, 2004	Full-Res: PIA06985
This wide-angle image captured by Cassini's imaging science subsystem shows streaks of surface material in the equatorial region of Titan. It was acquired through a near-infrared filter, which is sensitive to methane. Streaks occur in the east-west direction (upper left to lower right), and may be caused by the movement of a fluid over the surface, such as wind, hydrocarbon liquids, or a migrating ice sheet, such as a glacier. The large-scale streaks are most easily explained by winds in Titan's massive atmosphere. The image scale of this picture is 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) per pixel. North is 45 degree to the right of vertical. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Cassini-Huygens mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging team is based at the Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colo. For the latest news about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://www.nasa.gov/cassini. For more information about the mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov and the Cassini imaging team home page, http://ciclops.org . Image Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

Titan's Tantalizing Streaks

October 28, 2004

Full-Res: PIA06985

This wide-angle image captured by Cassini's imaging science subsystem shows streaks of surface material in the equatorial region of Titan. It was acquired through a near-infrared filter, which is sensitive to methane. Streaks occur in the east-west direction (upper left to lower right), and may be caused by the movement of a fluid over the surface, such as wind, hydrocarbon liquids, or a migrating ice sheet, such as a glacier. The large-scale streaks are most easily explained by winds in Titan's massive atmosphere. The image scale of this picture is 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) per pixel. North is 45 degree to the right of vertical.

The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Cassini-Huygens mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging team is based at the Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colo.

For the latest news about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://www.nasa.gov/cassini. For more information about the mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov and the Cassini imaging team home page, http://ciclops.org .

Image Credit:

NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute