Today in the history of astronomy, Cassini made a historic flyby of Saturn’s moon.
You may think you’re seeing clouds in this infrared and ultraviolet image of Titan, taken during a flyby on October 26, 2004, but both the lighter and darker areas are surface features. Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute
- On October 26, 2004, the Cassini spacecraft made its initial close approach to Titan, designated Titan Flyby A, coming within 1,200 kilometers of the moon’s surface after a seven-year journey and four months orbiting Saturn.
- During this flight, Cassini acquired hundreds of photographs, made its first radar observations, and collected samples of Titan’s outer atmosphere.
- Initial imagery revealed a high-contrast surface that included complex bright and dark areas, numerous bright streaks parallel to the equator, and a notable absence of impact craters, indicating a geologically young surface.
- Complementary data were gathered via scatterometry, radiometry, magnetometer, and spectrometer instruments, with atmospheric analyzes specifically conducted in preparation for the subsequent Huygens probe landing.
On October 26, 2004, the Cassini spacecraft made the first close pass of Saturn’s planet-sized moon, Titan (later known as Titan Flyby A). After a seven-year journey – the last four months of which were spent orbiting Saturn – Cassini fell to within 745 miles (1,200 kilometers) of the world’s surface. It took hundreds of photographs, made its first radar observations and even discovered traces of the moon’s outer atmosphere.
The first close-up images showed a surface with lots of contrast and a complex interplay between bright and dark detail, and several bright streaks running parallel to Titan’s equator. The surface appeared young, as there was no immediate evidence of impact craters, even though there are countless impact marks on Saturn’s other moons. In addition to imaging, Cassini’s instruments collected scatterometry, radiometry, and magnetometer and spectrometer results. Traces of Titan’s atmosphere were also analyzed in preparation for a full study of the Huygens probe when it lands on the moon in January next year.
