Titan – My WordPress Site

Example of altimeter echo received from plains. This waveform was recorded during flyby T30 from an altitude of 1964.9 km at an incidence angle 0.0137°. Panel (a) shows a context map. Section of the T30 altimeter track observing the plains from point A to C. The waveform resulting from the integration of three echoes (Burst ID 131027162/4) located at point B is shown in panel (b) the altimetric model is used to fit the echo, resulting in an estimated RMS height of 4 m over the 115 square km footprints. The fitting error is indicated as a percentage by the mean integral relative error (MIRE). Panel (c) shows the large-scale topography of the plains using three elevation trackers, Maximum Likelihood, Threshold, and First Moment. All three trackers agree that the overall surface height changes less than 50 m over 50 km. -- JGR Planets

Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Titan

Titan’s Plains Revealed: Evidence For A Layered Surface

by Keith CowingApril 10, 2026April 10, 2026

Undifferentiated plains are the most common terrain type on Titan, yet their composition and geologic history remain poorly understood.

Artist’s impression of the simulations conducted in this research. Jupiter (lower left) has a strong magnetic field which creates a cavity in its circumplanetary disk. Saturn (upper right) lacks a strong magnetic field so its circumplanetary disk evolves without a cavity. Credit: Yuri I. Fujii/L-INSIGHT [Kyoto University], Illustrator: Shinichiro Kinoshita

Astrogeology, Callisto, Enceladus, Europa, Ganymede, Gas Giants, Icy Worlds, Io, Jupiter, Magnetic Fields, Electromagnetism, bioelectricity,, Rhea, Saturn, Titan, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

How Jupiter Cultivated More Large Moons Than Saturn

by Keith CowingApril 8, 2026April 8, 2026

Hydrocarbon lakes on Titan - NASA

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Icy Worlds, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Titan, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Experimental Insights Into The Azotosome Hypothesis In Titan’s Lake Fluid

by Keith CowingApril 5, 2026April 5, 2026

Fully corrected and calibrated albedos of Titan (yellow), Saturn (green), Uranus (blue), and Neptune (red) covering 0.3 µm to 2.1 µm, offset for clarity. Regions of strong telluric absorption are masked in lighter shades, and it should be noted that they are less reliably corrected. The flat regions in the UV were flagged as bad pixels in all images by X-shooter. We also highlight a vertical discontinuity between the VIS and NIR arms of Titan, which is likely due to weather inconsistency. The colors used for these objects are the same in the following figures. -- Astronomy & Astrophysics

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Astronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gas Giants, Ice Giant, Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, Neptune, Saturn, Titan, Uranus

HiDef Neighbors: Solar System Objects As Exoplanet Analogs I. Gaseous Objects, Planets, Planetary Systems, And Small Bodies

by Keith CowingMarch 27, 2026

Mars Curiosity -- NASA

Career Opportunities, Education and Outreach, Missions & Hardware, Titan

Dragonfly Mission’s Guest Investigator Program

by Keith CowingMarch 20, 2026March 20, 2026

From left, Carlisa Drew, Seth Harvey, Anthony Fanelli, Emory Toomey and TJ Lee conduct power and functional testing on Dragonfly’s Integrated Electronics Module (IEM) and Power Switching Unit (PSU) in the cleanroom at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland. The IEM is Dragonfly’s “brain,” containing the spacecraft’s core avionics; the PSUs control the flow of power to Dragonfly’s instruments and systems. NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Ed Whitman

Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Missions & Hardware, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, Saturn, Titan, Tricorders & Sensors, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Dragonfly Astrobiology Mission Begins Rotorcraft Integration, Testing Stage

by Keith CowingMarch 14, 2026March 14, 2026

Planetary Protection For Sustainable Space Exploration

Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Enceladus, Europa, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Mars, Missions & Hardware, Planetary Protection & Biosafety, Sample Return, Titan

Planetary Protection For Sustainable Space Exploration – Philosophical Transactions A Theme Issue: (open access)

by Keith CowingFebruary 23, 2026February 23, 2026

Namib Sand Sea, Ground Penetrating Radar, Yardang, Lut desert,

Analog Studies, Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Away Teams & Field Reports, Caves, Craters, Mountains & Lava Tubes, Desert Worlds, Exploration Gear & Tech, Icy Worlds, Lava / magma ocean / Volcanic Worlds, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Planetary Protection & Biosafety, Polar / Alpine Expeditions, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, Sample Return, Titan, Tricorders & Sensors, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Terrestrial Analogs To Titan For Geophysical Research

by Keith CowingFebruary 20, 2026February 20, 2026

This view was taken from above the ringplane and looks toward the unlit side of the rings. Here, the probe gazes upon Titan in the distance beyond Saturn and its dark and graceful rings -- NASA/JPL/SSI

Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Hyperion, Impact events, Saturn, Titan

Saturn’s Moon Titan Could Have Formed in a Merger of Two Old Moons

by Keith CowingFebruary 11, 2026

From left, Johns Hopkins APL engineers Tyler Radomsky and Felipe Ruiz install a rotor on the Dragonfly test model at the Transonic Dynamics Tunnel at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Virginia. NASA

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Cryobiology, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Missions & Hardware, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, Titan, Tricorders & Sensors

Astrobiology Droid Update: Dragonfly Aerodynamic Testing

by Keith CowingFebruary 9, 2026