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Posted by: alan Aug 18 2005, 03:18 AM

Volcanopele has a post about the names of some of Titan's features
http://volcanopele.blogspot.com/2005/08/titan-features-receive-provisional.html
The pdf showing locations and names
http://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/images/Titan_comp.pdf
Peanut Lake now appears to Ontario Lacus ( Lake Ontario )

Posted by: Bob Shaw Aug 18 2005, 08:07 AM

The USGS Titan map certainly has some apposite names - I particularly liked Santorini and Crete!

The mainland area below Shangri-La still looks uncommonly like Scotland to me, and if we are to continue with the mythological (ish) naming of the area above it then I hope we eventually see a glen with a feature named 'Brigadoon'.

Posted by: SkyeLab Aug 18 2005, 10:45 AM

It is certainly cold enough to be Scotland..........!!!

Brian

edited to correct typo

Posted by: ilbasso Aug 18 2005, 12:45 PM

I noticed an "Elba" too. If Napolean had been exiled to Elba on Titan...

Posted by: djellison Aug 18 2005, 12:58 PM

Natit was I ere I saw Titan

Hmm - doesnt quite work eh

Doug

Posted by: maycm Aug 18 2005, 01:38 PM

I like the fact that there is another Lake Ontario somewhere in the Solar System.

I still think the wind coming off the one I live near is probably colder in the middle of winter.

Posted by: Rob Pinnegar Aug 18 2005, 03:38 PM

I like the fact that there is another Lake Ontario somewhere in the Solar System.

I still think the wind coming off the one I live near is probably colder in the middle of winter. 

Posted by: volcanopele Aug 18 2005, 04:04 PM

Yeah... and the storms over New Lake Ontario probably aren't as nasty either. Doubt they get much lightning on Titan.

If the upcoming flyby of the south pole reveals any big ol'rivers flowing into Ontario Lacus, we oughta call one of 'em "Niagara". If there are just little rivers, call of of 'em Twelve Mile Creek (and plant some vinyards).

Posted by: dvandorn Aug 19 2005, 06:53 AM

The mainland area below Shangri-La still looks uncommonly like Scotland to me, and if we are to continue with the mythological (ish) naming of the area above it then I hope we eventually see a glen with a feature named 'Brigadoon'.

Posted by: Bob Shaw Aug 19 2005, 12:55 PM

But, Bob -- any feature named "Brigadoon" would only be visible to the outside Universe for one day every 100 years.  And in this case, that would mean Saturn years!

-the other Doug

Posted by: Awynberg Aug 21 2005, 11:58 AM

Apologies for asking this question here if it is not the best place to ask it.

What is the highest resolution of images taken of Titan's surface? I have seen one or two highly cleaned up images with resolutions in the low kilometres, but I also recall that Cassini takes images with hundreds of meters resolution on most Titan close flybys. However, such high resolution images are hard for the layperson to find. Any pointers on what's available and where to find such images would be appreciated.

Thanks
Andrew

Posted by: volcanopele Aug 21 2005, 04:10 PM

I think the highest resolution images released publically (in an enhanced fashion) are the images from T5. Try http://volcanopele.blogspot.com/2005_05_01_volcanopele_archive.html , near the bottom of the page for info and links for those images. There were some nice images from Ta that I don't think have been released publically.

Posted by: BruceMoomaw Aug 21 2005, 11:45 PM

I want to see Benny Hill on Mars, too. By which I mean the man, not his name. If Margaret Thatcher had been sincere about wanting Argentina out of the Falklands bloodlessly, all she had to do was ring the Islands with radio ships and beam in round-the-clock telecasts of "The Benny Hill Show". I guarantee you that within 72 hours every Argentinean would have been off those islands.

Posted by: mike Aug 22 2005, 02:08 AM

Heh. You may be right. Still, you have to admit that the old bald man is fantastic.

Posted by: Bob Shaw Aug 22 2005, 09:57 AM

Bruce:

The old bat *wanted* to play with her toys! I tend to share your view of Benny Hill - I just think it's a great name for a Martian hill (preferably a low, dumpy one with - of course - not much on top).

Hmmm...

Whatthesam Hill?
Mount Maharley?

Bob Shaw

Posted by: volcanopele Sep 2 2005, 11:37 PM

More names have been provisionally approved, including Fensal for the northern part of the H (now Fensal-Aztlan) and Hotei Arcus for the "Smile".

Posted by: volcanopele Sep 28 2005, 08:36 PM

More Titan feature names. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA07365 is now known as Menrva, after the Etruscan goddess of wisdom. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA07368, at the center of http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA07732, is now known as Sinlap, after the Burmese wise spirit who dwells in the sky and gives wisdom to
his worshipers.

Check out the USGS nomenclature site for more names and a map:

http://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/jsp/FeatureTypes2.jsp?system=Saturn&body=Titan&systemID=6&bodyID=30&sort=AName&show=Fname&show=Lat&show=Long&show=Diam&show=Stat&show=Orig

Posted by: stevew Sep 30 2005, 04:00 AM

Apologies for asking this question here if it is not the best place to ask it.

What is the highest resolution of images taken of Titan's surface?  I have seen one or two highly cleaned up images with resolutions in the low kilometres, but I also recall that Cassini takes images with hundreds of meters resolution on most Titan close flybys.  However, such high resolution images are hard for the layperson to find.  Any pointers on what's available and where to find such images would be appreciated.

Thanks
Andrew

Posted by: BruceMoomaw Sep 30 2005, 05:38 AM

It had been hoped that Titan's atmosphere might be clear enough in near-IR wavelengths for its cameras to take images with a similar or even better resolution -- but Titan and its haze aren't cooperating. The resolution of images taken using the mapping capability of its VIMS at the 2-micron wavelength are a bit worse than that of the SAR radar images (and VIMS' ability to image wide areas of Titan is also seriously limited by its design).

The ISS cameras can cover much wider areas of Titan than either of the other two instruments, but only at 1-micron wavelengths -- in which their resolution is several times worse than in VIMS' 2-micron images. So all the ISS images of Titan -- despite Jason Perry's most heroic efforts to sharpen them through processing -- are disastrously fuzzy (although they still allow views of areas on Titan that neither of the other instruments will be able to view for a long time).

Posted by: edstrick Sep 30 2005, 09:17 AM

The unfortunate fact is that middle-infrared CCD-like cameras were being invented as Cassini was being designed and had chip sizes of something like 32x32 pixels (or whatever). If Cassini was being designed now, it's very likely that a third camera would have made it through all the mission descoping, but with a 1 to 5 micrometer or some such wavelength range, and something like 512x512 pixels.

But we're stuck with the instrumentation possible when the mission was being designed.

Posted by: dvandorn Sep 30 2005, 08:19 PM

...we're stuck with the instrumentation possible when the mission was being designed.

Posted by: Bob Shaw Sep 30 2005, 10:07 PM

To paraphrase Donald Rumsfeld, "You don't go to Saturn with the instruments you wish you had, you go to Saturn with the instruments you have."

-the other Doug