Cassini/VIMS observations of Titan during the T20 flyby

Kurzfassung

Since its insertion in Saturn’s environment in July 2004, the Cassini spacecraft has realized 20 Titan flybys. Three instruments can see through the haze: the ISS camera thanks to the infrared channel, the SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) and the Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS) [1]. During the first flyby, the VIMS showed its great potential to map and to characterize Titan’s surface despite scattering by haze particles and strong absorption of light by methane contained in the atmosphere [2]. Six infrared windows provide images of Titan’s surface and its spectral properties. At closest approach, the spatial resolution can be as good as 250 m/pixel, a resolution similar to that of the radar swaths. Because the VIMS capabilities were unexpected before the first observations, the VIMS had never been the prime instrument at closest approach before the T20 flyby that happened on 24 October 2006. This paper reports on the findings of this flyby.