Cassini-Huygens at Saturn: Dennis Matson
This event was digitally recorded and is available for viewing on the Caltech Theater site. Many past Watson Lectures are available for viewing online on the Caltech Theater site, and are available for purchase: DVD Order Form (PDF)
The Cassini spacecraft is in orbit around the planet Saturn. The Huygens atmospheric probe descended by parachute to the surface of Titan, the largest of Saturn's moons. Titan is the only moon in the solar system with an atmosphere. The surface of Titan would look familiar to a geologist. It has stream beds, lakes, and shore lines. The materials, however, are exotic. Ice, as hard as rock, plays the role of sand and gravel. Methane takes the role of liquid water. It not only carves the surface but produces clouds that come and go. The small moon Enceladus features geysers which erupt from its south polar hydrothermal field. Iapetus, the famous "black and white" moon, has marked its equator with a very impressive, very straight, high mountain chain. The magnetosphere, the rings, and the planet itself beckon with their own surprise discoveries.
Dennis Matson is Project Scientist for NASA's Cassini-Huygens Mission to Saturn and Titan.
| Marketing Partner: | Caltech Bookstore |