Determining a tilt in Titan’s north-south albedo asymmetry from Cassini images
West, Robert A.; Nixon, Conor A.; Achterberg, Richard K.; Thomas, Peter C.; Roman, Michael T.; Gierasch, Peter J.; Banfield, Donald J.
United States
Abstract
Analysis of Titan's hemispheric brightness asymmetry from mapped Cassini images reveals an axis of symmetry that is tilted with respect to the rotational axis of the solid body. Twenty images taken from 2004 through 2007 show a mean axial offset of 3.8 ± 0.9° relative to the solid body's pole, directed 79 ± 24° to the west of the sub-solar longitude. These values are consistent with recent measurements of an implied atmospheric spin axis determined from isothermal mapping by [Achterberg, R.K., Conrath, B.J., Gierasch, P.J., Flasar, F.M., Nixon, C.A., 2008. Icarus 197, 549-555].