Search Publications
Impact basin relaxation on Rhea and Iapetus and relation to past heat flow
Schenk, Paul M.; White, Oliver L.; Dombard, Andrew J.
Evidence for relaxation of impact crater topography has been observed on many icy satellites, including those of Saturn, and the magnitude of relaxation can be related to past heat flow (e.g. Moore, J.M., Schenk, P.M., Bruesch, L.S., Asphaug, E., McKinnon, W.B. [2004]. Icarus 171, 421-443; Dombard, A.J., McKinnon, W.B. [2006]. J. Geophys. Res. 111…
Crater topography on Titan: Implications for landscape evolution
Lorenz, R. D.; Kirk, R. L.; Cassini Radar Team +7 more
We present a comprehensive review of available crater topography measurements for Saturn’s moon Titan. In general, the depths of Titan’s craters are within the range of depths observed for similarly sized fresh craters on Ganymede, but several hundreds of meters shallower than Ganymede’s average depth vs. diameter trend. Depth-to-diameter ratios a…
Processes forming and sustaining Saturn's proton radiation belts
Krupp, N.; Roussos, E.; Paranicas, C. +2 more
Saturn's proton radiation belts extend over the orbits of several moons that split this region of intense radiation into several distinct belts. Understanding their distribution requires to understand how their particles are created and evolve. High-energy protons are thought to be dominantly produced by cosmic ray albedo neutron decay (CRAND). Th…
Wind driven capillary-gravity waves on Titan's lakes: Hard to detect or non-existent?
Lorenz, R. D.; Lunine, J. I.; Hayes, A. G. +13 more
Saturn's moon Titan has lakes and seas of liquid hydrocarbon and a dense atmosphere, an environment conducive to generating wind waves. Cassini observations thus far, however, show no indication of waves. We apply models for wind wave generation and detection to the Titan environment. Results suggest wind speed thresholds at a reference altitude o…
The inner small satellites of Saturn: A variety of worlds
Burns, J. A.; Hedman, M.; Helfenstein, P. +4 more
More than a dozen small (<150 km mean radius) satellites occupy distinct dynamical positions extending from within Saturn’s classical rings to the orbit of Dione. The Cassini mission has gradually accumulated image and spectral coverage of these objects to the point where some generalizations on surface morphology may be made. Objects in differ…
Water production rate of Comet C/2009 P1 (Garradd) throughout the 2011-2012 apparition: Evidence for an icy grain halo
Bertaux, J. -L.; Combi, M. R.; Fougere, N. +3 more
The all-sky hydrogen Lyman-alpha camera, SWAN (Solar Wind Anisotropies), on the SOlar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) satellite made observations of the hydrogen coma of Comet C/2009 P1 (Garradd) throughout its apparition from August 15, 2011 through April 6, 2012. SOHO has been operating in a halo orbit around the Earth-Sun L1 Lagrange point …
Seasonal variations of temperature, acetylene and ethane in Saturn's atmosphere from 2005 to 2010, as observed by Cassini-CIRS
Fletcher, L. N.; Irwin, P. G. J.; Sinclair, J. A. +6 more
Acetylene (C2H2) and ethane (C2H6) are by-products of complex photochemistry in the stratosphere of Saturn. Both hydrocarbons are important to the thermal balance of Saturn's stratosphere and serve as tracers of vertical motion in the lower stratosphere. Earlier studies of Saturn's hydrocarbons using Cas…
Saturn's cloud structure inferred from Cassini ISS
Roman, Michael T.; Gierasch, Peter J.; Banfield, Don
Using high-resolution Cassini ISS images with wavelengths ranging from the ultraviolet to the near infrared, we have retrieved Saturn's atmospheric aerosol structure and properties for a broad range of latitudes in the southern hemisphere. The observations are consistent with two distinct layers of haze above a scattered cloud. Each layer is chara…
One Moon, many measurements 2: Photometric corrections
Yokota, Y.; Mall, U.; Besse, S. +10 more
Observations of the lunar surface within the past 10 years have been made with various lunar remote sensing instruments, the Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) onboard the Chandrayaan-1 mission, the Spectral Profiler (SP), the Multiband Imager (MI), the Terrain Camera (TC) onboard the SELENE mission, and the ground based USGS Robotic Lunar Obs…
On the chemical composition of Titan’s dry lakebed evaporites
Barnes, J. W.; Cordier, D.; Ferreira, A. G.
Titan, the main satellite of Saturn, has an active cycle of methane in its troposphere. Among other evidence for a mechanism of evaporation at work on the ground, dry lakebeds have been discovered. Recent Cassini infrared observations of these empty lakes have revealed a surface composition poor in water ice compared to that of the surrounding ter…