it is now well established that titan.s atmosphere is at least partially transparent in several near-infrared windows. resolved images made with the hubble space telescope show clearly defined albedo features including a prominent bright feature on titan.s leading hemisphere. lightcurves measured at 1.3, 1.6, and 2.0 micron show a clearly defined peak near eastern elongation. we have recently shown that one more window exists in titan.s spectrum from 4.9 to 5.2 micron, but we have been unable to measure a lightcurve. lightcurves of the icy galilean satellites at 5 micron are anti-correlated with lightcurves in the near infrared, indicative of the presence of silicate minerals in the dark, non-ice component of the surface. we propose to use iso to measure the 5 micron lightcurve of titan to search for clues to the composition of its surface.
Instrument
CAM01
Temporal Coverage
1997-07-04T13:17:12Z/1997-07-13T08:01:26Z
Version
1.0
Mission Description
The Infrared Space Observatory (ISO) was the worlds first true orbiting infrared observatory. Equipped with four highly-sophisticated and versatile scientific instruments, it was launched by Ariane in November 1995 and provided astronomers world-wide with a facility of unprecedented sensitivity and capabilities for a detailed exploration of the Universe at infrared wavelengths.
European Space Agency, NOLL et al., 1998, 'TITAN.S LIGHTCURVE AT 5 MICRON: A CLUE TO SURFACE COMPOSITION', 1.0, European Space Agency, https://doi.org/10.5270/esa-lq21g2b
