title: Imaging of Titan from the Cassini spacecraft.
abstract: Titan, the largest moon of Saturn, is the only satellite in the Solar System with a substantial atmosphere. The atmosphere is poorly understood and obscures the surface, leading to intense speculation about Titan's nature. Here we present observations of Titan from the imaging science experiment onboard the Cassini spacecraft that address some of these issues. The images reveal intricate surface albedo features that suggest aeolian, tectonic and fluvial processes; they also show a few circular features that could be impact structures. These observations imply that substantial surface modification has occurred over Titan's history. We have not directly detected liquids on the surface to date. Convective clouds are found to be common near the south pole, and the motion of mid-latitude clouds consistently indicates eastward winds, from which we infer that the troposphere is rotating faster than the surface. A detached haze at an altitude of 500 km is 150-200 km higher than that observed by Voyager, and more tenuous haze layers are also resolved.
authors.affiliation: Cassini Imaging Central Laboratory for Operations, Space Science Institute, 4750 Walnut Street, Suite 205, Boulder, Colorado 80301, USA. carolyn@ciclops.org
authors.forename: Carolyn C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Porco
authors.forename: Emily
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Baker
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Barbara
authors.forename: Kevin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Beurle
authors.forename: Andre
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authors.lastname: Brahic
authors.forename: Joseph A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Burns
authors.forename: Sebastien
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authors.lastname: Charnoz
authors.forename: Nick
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Cooper
authors.forename: Douglas D
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authors.lastname: Dawson
authors.forename: Anthony D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Del Genio
authors.forename: Tilmann
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authors.lastname: Denk
authors.forename: Luke
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authors.lastname: Dones
authors.forename: Ulyana
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authors.lastname: Dyudina
authors.forename: Michael W
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Evans
authors.forename: Stephanie
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authors.lastname: Fussner
authors.forename: Bernd
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authors.lastname: Giese
authors.forename: Kevin
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authors.lastname: Grazier
authors.forename: Paul
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authors.lastname: Helfenstein
authors.forename: Andrew P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Ingersoll
authors.forename: Robert A
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authors.lastname: Jacobson
authors.forename: Torrence V
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authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.forename: Alfred
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authors.lastname: McEwen
authors.forename: Carl D
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authors.lastname: Murray
authors.forename: Gerhard
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authors.lastname: Neukum
authors.forename: William M
authors.initials: WM
authors.lastname: Owen
authors.forename: Jason
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authors.lastname: Perry
authors.forename: Thomas
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authors.lastname: Roatsch
authors.forename: Joseph
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authors.lastname: Spitale
authors.forename: Steven
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authors.lastname: Squyres
authors.forename: Peter
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authors.lastname: Thomas
authors.forename: Matthew
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authors.lastname: Tiscareno
authors.forename: Elizabeth P
authors.initials: EP
authors.lastname: Turtle
authors.forename: Ashwin R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Vasavada
authors.forename: Joseph
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authors.lastname: Veverka
authors.forename: Roland
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authors.lastname: Wagner
authors.forename: Robert
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authors.lastname: West