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Encircled in purple stratospheric haze, Titan appears as a softly glowing sphere in this colorized image taken one day after Cassini's first flyby of the moon on July 2, 2004.
As the Cassini spacecraft approached Titan during its May 5 flyby, the Composite Infrared Spectrometer (CIRS) focused on the moon's atmosphere, analyzing its temperature and aerosol profiles.
The Imaging Science Subsystem (ISS) acquired high-resolution imaging of Titan’s trailing hemisphere at high southern latitudes and rode along with the Visible and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS) to monitor clouds. The Radio and Plasma Wave Science (RPWS) instrument measured thermal plasmas in Titan's ionosphere and surrounding environment, searched for lightning in Titan's atmosphere, and investigated the interaction of Titan with Saturn's magnetosphere.
Date
May 5, 2009
Altitude
2016 miles (3244 km)
Speed
13,000 mph (5.8 km/sec)
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Last Updated
Jan 24, 2024
Editor
NASA Science Editorial Team
