A 5-Micron-Bright Spot on Titan: Evidence for Surface Diversity

Jason W. Barnes (1) , Robert H. Brown (1) , Elizabeth P. Turtle (1) , Alfred S. Mcewen (1) , Ralph D. Lorenz (1) , Michael A. Janssen (2) , Emily L. Schaller (3) , Michael E. Brown (3) , B. J. Buratti (2) , Christophe Sotin (4) , Caitlin A. Griffith (1) , Roger N. Clark (5) , Jason Perry (1) , Stephanie Fussner (1) , John Barbara (6) , Richard M. West (2) , Charles Elachi (2) , Antonin H. Bouchez (7) , Henry Roe (3) , Kevin H. Baines (2) , Giancarlo Bellucci (8) , Jean-Pierre Bibring (9) , Fabrizio Capaccioni (10) , Priscilla Cerroni (10) , Michel Combes (11, 12, 13) , Angioletta Coradini (8) , Dale P. Cruikshank (14) , Pierre Drossart (11, 12, 13) , Vittorio Formisano (8) , Ralf Jaumann (15) , Yves Langevin (9) , Dennis L. Matson (2) , Thomas B. Mccord (16) , Philip D. Nicholson (17) , Bruno Sicardy (11, 12, 13)

1 LPL - Lunar and Planetary Laboratory [University of Arizona]
2 JPL - Jet Propulsion Laboratory
3 Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena
4 LPG - Laboratoire de Planétologie et Géodynamique [UMR 6112]
5 US Geological Survey, Flagstaff
6 NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, Columbia University
7 W. M. Keck Observatory
8 IFSI - Istituto di Fisica dello Spazio Interplanetario
9 IAS - Institut d'astrophysique spatiale
10 IASF-Roma - Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale e Fisica Cosmica
11 Observatoire de Paris
12 LESIA - Laboratoire d'études spatiales et d'instrumentation en astrophysique
13 Pôle Planétologie du LESIA
14 SETI Institute, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field
15 Institute for Planetary Exploration, Deutsches Zentrum for Luft und Raumfahrt
16 Department of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Washington
17 Department of Astronomy, Cornell University

Observations from the Cassini Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer show an anomalously bright spot on Titan located at 80°W and 20°S. This area is bright in reflected light at all observed wavelengths, but is most noticeable at 5 microns. The spot is associated with a surface albedo feature identified in images taken by the Cassini Imaging Science Subsystem. We discuss various hypotheses about the source of the spot, reaching the conclusion that the spot is probably due to variation in surface composition, perhaps associated with recent geophysical phenomena.

Domaines: Astrophysique [astro-ph]

Jason W. Barnes, Robert H. Brown, Elizabeth P. Turtle, Alfred S. Mcewen, Ralph D. Lorenz, et al.. A 5-Micron-Bright Spot on Titan: Evidence for Surface Diversity. Science, 2005, 310, pp.92-95. ⟨10.1126/science.1117075⟩. ⟨hal-03743039⟩