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TitanA collection of pictures of Saturn's largest moon
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Titan is the largest moon of Saturn
and - next to Ganymede - the second-largest moon in the Solar System. Titan is the only moon known to have a dense atmosphere, which makes its observation somewhat difficult. Early flybys only delivered fussy pictures of the thick atmosphere. It took Cassini's radar and infrared cameras to map Titan's surface. The picture to the left, taken by Cassini's high-resolution camera shows the large seas on Titan's northern hemisphere. Picture taken on October 7, 2013 from 809,000 miles (1.303 mil. km); source: NASA CICLOPS On January 14, 2005, ESA's Huygens Lander became the first human-built object to touch the surface of a celestial body in the outer Solar System. |
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Here are our favorite Titan pictures. Like our other space galleries, the pictures have not been selected because of their
scientific significance but because of their esthetic value and sometimes because of their historical importance.
Through an array of instruments Cassini had several ways to observe
Titan: |
  True color image from 191,000 km (119,000 mi) January 30, 2012 Source: NASA / JPL |
 Colored mosaic of Cassini's radar observations December 2013 Source: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASI/USGS |
 Composite image of infrared pictures taken on November 13, 2015 Source: NASA / University of Arizona |
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Titan was discovered on March 25, 1655 by Dutch astronomer Christiaan Huygens. It was the first known moon of Saturn, and the sixth known moon in the Solar
System (after Earth's moon and the four Galilean moons of Jupiter). A first, fuzzy picture of Titan was taken by Pioneer 11, which passed Titan on September 2, 1979 at a distance of 225,534 miles (362,962 km). A year later, on November 12, 1980, Voyager 1 passed the moon at just 4,030 miles (6,490 km), but still, no camera was able to penetrate the haze. The probe, however, took some vital measurements of the planet's physical and atmospheric conditions. |
 First picture of Titan Pioneer 11, September 2, 1979 Source: NASA / Planetary Society |
 Voyager 1 image from 4.5 mil. km November 9, 1980 Source: NASA |
 Titan's haze from 435,000 km (270,000 mi.) November 12, 1980 Source: NASA / JPL |
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The first picture revealing some of Titan's surface features was an infrared image taken by the
Hubble Space Telescope in October 17, 1994. Between 1997 and 2003, the Near-Infrared Camera
at the W. M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii added some more images. This lead to the naming of a first surface feature, a very reflective area in the southeast of the leading hemisphere, called Xanadu. Hubble image, October 17, 1994 and Keck image December 24, 2003; source: Titan in Context |
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Artist's concept of Cassini approaching Titan Source: Kevin Gill / Wikimedia |
Titan and Saturn, May 6, 2012, from 778,000 km (483,000 mi) Source: NASA / Universe Today |
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On July 1, 2004, the Cassini–Huygens probe, a collaboration between NASA, ESA, and
the Italian Space Agency, was inserted into Saturn's orbit. On October 26, 2004, the probe performed the first close approach of Titan, passing the moon at just 730 miles (1,174 km) and taking the first infrared images that penetrated Titan's thick clouds. A mosaic of nine processed images acquired during Cassini's first very close flyby lead to the creation of a first detailed full-disc view of the mysterious moon. These images were essential for the preparation of the landing of the Huygens probe. |
 Infrared image of Cassini's first close approach Source: NASA / APOD |
 Mosaic of processed infrared images Source: NASA / Wikipedia
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Artist's concept of Huygens descending on Titan Source: www.sciencephoto.com |
Titan's surface from 5 km above Source: ESA / astronomy.com |
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On December 25, 2004, the Huygens probe separated from Cassini. The probe soft-landed by parachute on Titan on January 14, 2005 and returned data to Earth for around 90 minutes. It was the first landing of a human-built probe on a body of the outer Solar System and the first landing of an ESA probe on any celestial body.
Huygens was primarily an atmospheric mission and most instruments were designed to measure the properties of the atmosphere. The pictures taken
were somewhat of an added bonus. The probe transmitted a number of images during descent and one picture after landing - the first picture of the surface
of a planetary satellite other than Earth's moon.
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The Surface of Titan Source: ESA / Wikipedia |
Colored mosaic of the landing site, assembled from several images taken during descent Source: ESA / Planetary Societ / René Pascal |
Infrared images of Titan taken over the course of 13 years; Source: NASA / JPL Cassini continued to take radar images of the surface, among them pictures of methane lakes (below left) and of dunes of dark, organic material (below right). In 2015, the collection of images resulted in a complete map of Titan. |
 Ligeia Mare January 11, 2015 Source: NASA / JPL / Wikipedia |
 Segment of composite map assembled 2015 Source: NASA / JPL |
 Dunes near Titan's equator May 2, 2008 Source: NASA / Wikipedia |
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Titan is Saturn's largest moon by far, comprising more than 96% of the mass in orbit around the planet. The second largest moon is Rhea. Between 2005 and 2013, Cassini performed five close flybys of the icy moon, getting as close as 69 kilometers (42.9 miles). |
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