A 5-micron-bright spot on Titan: Evidence for surface diversity

被引：68

作者：

Barnes, JW ^{[1
]}

Brown, RH

Turtle, EP

McEwen, AS

Lorenz, RD

Janssen, M

Schaller, EL

Brown, ME

Buratti, BJ

Sotin, C

Griffith, C

Clark, R

Perry, J

Fussner, S

Barbara, J

West, R

Elachi, C

Bouchez, AH

Roe, HG

Baines, KH

Bellucci, G

Bibring, JP

Capaccioni, F

Cerroni, P

Combes, M

Coradini, A

Cruikshank, DP

Drossart, P

Formisano, V

Jaumann, R

Langevin, Y

Matson, DL

McCord, TB

Nicholson, PD

Sicardy, B

机构：

[1] Univ Arizona, Lunar & Planetary Lab, Tucson, AZ 85721 USA

[2] CALTECH, Jet Prop Lab, Pasadena, CA 91109 USA

[3] CALTECH, Pasadena, CA 91125 USA

[4] Univ Nantes, CNRS, UMR 6112, Lab Planetol & Geodynam, F-44035 Nantes, France

[5] US Geol Survey, Flagstaff, AZ 86001 USA

[6] NASA, Goddard Inst Space Studies, New York, NY 10025 USA

[7] WM Keck Observ, Kamuela, HI 96743 USA

[8] CNR, Ist Fis Spazio Interplanetario, I-00133 Rome, Italy

[9] Univ Paris 11, Inst Astrophys Spatiale, F-91405 Orsay, France

[10] CNR, Ist Astrofis Spaziale & Fis Cosm, Rome, Italy

[11] Observ Paris, Meudon, France

[12] NASA, Ames Res Ctr, Moffett Field, CA 94035 USA

[13] German Aerosp Ctr, Inst Planetary Explorat, D-12489 Berlin, Germany

[14] Univ Washington, Dept Earth & Space Sci, Seattle, WA 98195 USA

[15] Cornell Univ, Dept Astron, Ithaca, NY 14853 USA

来源：

SCIENCE | 2005年 / 310卷 / 5745期

关键词：

D O I：

10.1126/science.1117075

中图分类号：

O [数理科学和化学]; P [天文学、地球科学]; Q [生物科学]; N [自然科学总论];

学科分类号：

07 ; 0710 ; 09 ;

摘要：

Observations from the Cassini Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer show an anomalously bright spot on Titan located at 80 degrees W and 20 degrees S. This area is bright in reflected tight 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.

引用

页码：92 / 95

页数：4

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