Size and shape of Saturn's moon Titan
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Abstract
Cassini observations show that Saturn’s moon Titan is slightly oblate. A fourth-order spherical harmonic expansion yields north polar, south polar, and mean equatorial radii of 2574.32 ± 0.05 kilometers (km), 2574.36 ± 0.03 km, and 2574.91 ± 0.11 km, respectively; its mean radius is 2574.73 ± 0.09 km. Titan’s shape approximates a hydrostatic, synchronously rotating triaxial ellipsoid but is best fit by such a body orbiting closer to Saturn than Titan presently does. Titan’s lack of high relief implies that most—but not all—of the surface features observed with the Cassini imaging subsystem and synthetic aperture radar are uncorrelated with topography and elevation. Titan’s depressed polar radii suggest that a constant geopotential hydrocarbon table could explain the confinement of the hydrocarbon lakes to high latitudes.
| Publication type | Article |
|---|---|
| Publication Subtype | Journal Article |
| Title | Size and shape of Saturn's moon Titan |
| Series title | Science |
| DOI | 10.1126/science.1168905 |
| Volume | 324 |
| Issue | 5929 |
| Year Published | 2009 |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | American Association for the Advancement of Science |
| Contributing office(s) | Astrogeology Science Center |
| Description | 3 p. |
| First page | 921 |
| Last page | 923 |
| Other Geospatial | Saturn's Moon Titan |
| Google Analytic Metrics | Metrics page |