Largest Clouds Ever Seen on Titan

By Nancy Atkinson - September 29, 2010 at 11:35 AM UTC | Planetary Science
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The Cassini spacecraft recently swooped by Saturn's largest moon Titan and captured images of large patches of clouds. "These are some of the largest clouds our cameras on Cassini have yet seen on Titan!" said Carolyn Porco, Cassini imaging team lead, in an email announcing the image. "And the fact that we see them in the equatorial region is big news and may signify seasonal change is underway!"

The image was taken on September 27, 2010 and received on Earth September 28, 2010 at a distance of approximately 1,282,259 kilometers away. The spacecraft was actually at its closest approach on Sept. 24, and took a long, sustained look at the hazy moon, coming within 8,175 kilometers (5,080 miles) above the hazy moon's surface.

Cassini's visual and infrared mapping spectrometer also took a look at these clouds, so look for more information soon about this large region of clouds.

Cassini also used its composite infrared spectrometer instrument to take a look at Titan's stratosphere to learn more about its vertical structure as the seasons change.

This flyby is the first in a series of high-altitude Titan flybys for Cassini over the next year and a half.

See a larger version of the image at the

CICLOPS website.

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson is a space journalist and author with a passion for telling the stories of people involved in space exploration and astronomy. She is currently retired from daily writing, but worked at Universe Today for 20 years as a writer and editor. She also contributed articles to The Planetary Society, Ad Astra (National Space Society), New Scientist and many other online outlets.

Her 2019 book, "Eight Years to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Missions,” shares the untold stories of engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make the Apollo program so successful, despite the daunting odds against it. Her first book “Incredible Stories From Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos” (2016) tells the stories of 37 scientists and engineers that work on several current NASA robotic missions to explore the solar system and beyond.

Nancy is also a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, and through this program, she has the opportunity to share her passion of space and astronomy with children and adults through presentations and programs. Nancy's personal website is nancyatkinson.com