The Cassini spacecraft performed a southern hemisphere pass of Titan's surface on Dec. 5
The murky orange disk of Saturn’s moon Titan glides past — a silent, floating sphere transiting Saturn. Titan’s photochemical smog completely obscures the surface in such natural color views. Its high-altitude hazes are visible against the disk of Saturn as they attenuate the light reflected by the planet.
Cassini Flies by Titan’s South Pole
The Cassini spacecraft performed a southern hemisphere pass of Titan’s surface on Dec. 5. The infrared camera took high-resolution images of a dark region called Ontario Lacus, which may be a large lake, first spotted by the imaging cameras in 2005. The Huygens probe landing site was also imaged.
Titan Flyby at a Glance
Date
Dec. 5, 2007
Altitude
807 miles (1,300 km)
Speed
14,000 mph (6.3 km/sec)
