NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Contacts:

Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Jia-Rui Cook 818-354-0850
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
jccook@jpl.nasa.gov

NASA Headquarters
Dwayne Brown
202-358-1725
Dwayne.c.brown@nasa.gov

Related links:

› Cold Case - video
› View presentation (36Mb - pdf)
Panelists:

Randolph Kirk, geophysicist, U.S. Geological Survey Astrogeology Science Center, Flagstaff, Ariz.
Jeffrey Kargel, planetary scientist, University of Arizona, Tucson
Pontus Brandt, senior staff scientist, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, Md.
Marcia Burton, Cassini fields and particles investigation scientist, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

This briefing presents two new results from NASA's Cassini mission to Saturn with never-before-seen videos that illustrate the data. The briefing includes discussion of a potential ice volcano – or cryovolcano – on Saturn's moon Titan. Scientists have been debating for years whether cryovolcanoes exist on ice-rich moons and if they do, what characteristics they have.

The panelists will discuss why this area appears to be a particularly convincing example of a cryovolcano. The second topic links periodic explosions of plasma, or hot ionized gas, with mysterious, periodic magnetic field and radio signals detected from Saturn.

Cassini has revealed the hot plasma clouds typically invisible to the human eye, enabling scientists to make a major breakthrough in understanding Saturn's behavior.

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Kirk Image - 1

Ariel's Transecting Valleys



This highest-resolution Voyager 2 view of Ariel's terminator shows a complex array of transecting valleys with super-imposed impact craters. Voyager obtained this clear-filter, narrow-angle view from a distance of 130,000 kilometers (80,000 miles) and with a resolution of about 2.4 km (1.5 mi). Particularly striking to Voyager scientists is the fact that the faults that bound the linear valleys are not visible where they transect one another across the valleys. Apparently these valleys were filled with deposits sometime after they were formed by tectonic processes, leaving them flat and smooth. Sinuous rilles (trenches) later formed, probably by some flow process. Some type of fluid flow may well have been involved in their evolution. The Voyager project is managed for NASA by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. › Read more

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

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Kirk Image - 2

Caldera in Sippar Sulcus, Ganymede


An irregularly shaped caldera, or pit, within the bright swath called Sippar Sulcus on Jupiter's moon Ganymede dominates this image taken by NASA's Galileo spacecraft. The high-standing interior of the caldera is interpreted as evidence of the flow of a viscous material. › Read more

Image credit: NASA/JPL/LPI

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Kirk Image - 3

Perspective View of Damascus Sulcus, Enceladus


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This perspective view of Damascus Sulcus was generated using high resolution images of Enceladus acquired in August 2008 at 12 to 30 meters (40 to 100 feet) resolution, together with a new topographic map of the region produced by Dr. Paul Schenk at the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston, TX. Damascus Sulcus is one of several prominent linear structures, dubbed “tiger stripes,” within the geologically active south polar region of Enceladus. Damascus Sulcus consists of two large parallel ridges separated by a deep V-shaped medial trough. › Read more

Image credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute/Universities Space Research Association/Lunar & Planetary Institute

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Kirk Image - 4

Global View of Sotra Facula, Titan


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This image shows the location of an area known as Sotra Facula on Saturn's moon Titan. The black and white swaths show data obtained by the radar instrument on NASA's Cassini spacecraft. The swaths were laid on top of a global composite image from Cassini's visual and infrared mapping spectrometer. Scientists believe the Sotra Facula region makes the best case for a cryovolcanic – or ice volcano – region on Titan. The area is located around 15 degrees south latitude, 40 degrees west longitude.

The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency (ASI). The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. The Cassini orbiter was designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The radar instrument was built by JPL and ASI, working with team members from the U.S. and several European countries. The visual and infrared mapping spectrometer was built by JPL, with a major contribution by ASI. The visual and infrared mapping spectrometer science team is based at the University of Arizona, Tucson.

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona

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Kirk Image - 5

Sotra Facula


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A potential cryovolcano – or ice volcano -- region on Saturn's moon Titan is shown in this image from NASA's Cassini spacecraft. The region, known as Sotra Facula, features two peaks more than 1,000 meters (3,000 feet) high, multiple deep craters and finger-like flows. These black-and-white swaths of data obtained by Cassini’s radar instrument give scientists information about topography. This radar swath was laid on top of an image taken by Cassini's visual and infrared mapping spectrometer. Sotra Facula is located around 15 degrees south latitude, 40 degrees west longitude.

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/USGS/University of Arizona

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Kirk Image - 6

Flyover of Sotra Facula, Titan


› Play video (83Mb - mov) | Play video (153Mb - mov)

This movie is based on data from NASA's Cassini spacecraft and flies over an area of Saturn's moon Titan known as Sotra Facula. Scientists believe Sotra is the best case for an ice volcano - or cryovolcano - region on Titan. The flyover shows two peaks more than 1,000 meters (3,000 feet) tall and multiple craters as deep as 1,500 meters (5,000 feet). It also shows finger-like flows. All of these are land features that indicate cryovolcanism. The 3-D topography comes from Cassini's radar instrument. Topography has been vertically exaggerated by a factor of 10. The false color in the initial frames show different compositions of surface material, as detected by Cassini's visual and infrared mapping spectrometer. In this color scheme, dunes tend to look relatively brown-blue. Blue suggests the presence of some exposed ice. Scientists think the bright areas have an organic coating that hides the ice and is different and lighter than the dunes. The finger-like flows appear bright yellowish-white, like the mountain and caldera. The second set of colors shows elevation, with blue being lowest and yellow and white being the highest. Dunes here appear blue because they tend to occupy low areas. The finger-like flows are harder to see in the elevation data, indicating that they are thin, maybe less than about 100 meters (300 feet) thick.

The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency (ASI). The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. The Cassini orbiter was designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The radar instrument was built by JPL and ASI, working with team members from the U.S. and several European countries. The visual and infrared mapping spectrometer was built by JPL, with a major contribution by ASI. The visual and infrared mapping spectrometer science team is based at the University of Arizona, Tucson.

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/USGS/University of Arizona

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Play video "Cold Case Cryovolcano"

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Kirk Image - 7

Mount Etna, Italy


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The summit of the Mount Etna volcano on the island of Sicily, Italy, one of the most active volcanoes in the world, is shown near the center of this radar image. Lava flows of different ages and surface roughness appear in shades of purple, green, yellow and pink surrounding the four small craters at the summit. › Read more

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/BATC

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Kirk Image - 8

Laki, Iceland


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This photograph shows a fissure and a row of craters in Laki, a volcanic region in the south of Iceland. The fissure and row of craters were the source of a large eruption in 1783 that poured out the Earth’s largest lava flow in historic times. The image was taken in 1996.

Image credit: R. M. C. Lopes

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Kirk Image - 9

SP Crater, Arizona


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SP Crater, a volcanic cone and flow in Arizona, is visible in this image obtained by the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) instrument on NASA's Terra spacecraft. Instrument scientists designated radiation of 0.81 microns red, 0.66 microns green, and 0.56 microns blue. Vegetation is red in that combination. The image was obtained around 2001.

ASTER is one of five Earth-observing instruments launched Dec. 18, 1999, on Terra. The instrument was built by Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. A joint U.S./Japan science team is responsible for validation and calibration of the instrument and data products. The U.S. science team is located at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. The Terra mission is part of NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C.

Image Credit: NASA/GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team

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Kargel Image - 1

Asphalt volcano on Earth


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High-resolution bathymetry shows extinct asphalt volcanoes on the sea floor off California. › Read more

Credit: UCSB/WHOI

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Kargel Image - 2

Triton's volcanic plains


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This view of the volcanic plains of Neptune's moon Triton was produced using topographic maps derived from images acquired by NASA's Voyager spacecraft during its August 1989 flyby, 20 years ago this week. › Read more

Image credit: NASA/JPL/Universities Space Research Association/Lunar & Planetary Institute

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Kargel Image - 3

Ruddy "Freckles" on Europa


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Reddish spots and shallow pits pepper the enigmatic ridged surface of Europa in this view combining information from images taken by NASA's Galileo spacecraft during two different orbits around Jupiter. › Read more

Image credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona/University of Colorado

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Brandt Image- 1

Saturn's Hot Plasma Explosions


› Play video (20Mb - mov)

This animation based on data obtained by NASA's Cassini Spacecraft shows how the "explosions" of hot plasma on the night side (orange and white) periodically inflate Saturn's magnetic field (white lines). Cassini scientists have been able to compute the "pressure" that the hot plasma exerts on the surrounding magnetic field by using remote images of the previously invisible hot plasma taken by the ion and neutral camera, part of the magnetospheric imaging instrument on board Cassini. These enormous clouds of hot plasma recur in the part of the magnetosphere known as the magnetotail roughly every 10 to 11 hours. They rotate around Saturn at a distance of about eight to 15 times the radius of Saturn. Scientists have finally been able to demonstrate that the pressure contained in these clouds is sufficient to inflate the magnetic field in a manner that is consistent with the periodic magnetic field signals that have puzzled them for so long. As the high- and low-pressure systems of atmospheric weather on Earth produce winds, pressures in space produce huge electrical currents, which in turn distort the magnetic field. The animation is based on data that were collected from Dec. 17 to 18, 2004.

The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency (ASI). The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. The Cassini orbiter was designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The magnetospheric imaging instrument was designed, built and is operated by an international team led by the Applied Physics Laboratory of the Johns Hopkins University, Laurel, Md. The radio and plasma wave science experiment team is based at the University of Iowa, Iowa City.

Image credit: NASA/JPL/JHUAPL/University of Iowa

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Brandt Image - 2

Saturn Plasma and Radio Waves, as Seen by Cassini


› Play video (14Mb - mov)
This animation, derived from data obtained by NASA's Cassini spacecraft, shows how plasma swirling around Saturn is correlated to bursts of radio waves emanating from the planet. The data shown on the upper portion of the screen were obtained by the ion and neutral camera, part of the magnetospheric imaging instrument. When the plasma gets hot, it goes from red to white. The bottom part of the screen shows data from Cassini's radio and plasma wave subsystem. The data were obtained from 12:01 a.m. UTC to 11:55 a.m. UTC on Oct. 7, 2008.

The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency (ASI). The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. The Cassini orbiter was designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The magnetospheric imaging instrument was designed, built and is operated by an international team led by the Applied Physics Laboratory of the Johns Hopkins University, Laurel, Md. The radio and plasma wave science experiment team is based at the University of Iowa, Iowa City.

Image credit: NASA/JPL/JHUAPL/University of Iowa.

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Burton Image - 1

Artist Concept of Particle Population in Saturn's Magnetosphere


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This is an artist's concept of the Saturnian plasma sheet based on data from Cassini magnetospheric imaging instrument. It shows Saturn's embedded "ring current," an invisible ring of energetic ions trapped in the planet's magnetic field. › Read more

Image credit: NASA/JPL/JHUAPL