The NASA/ESA Cassini spacecraft was launched in October 1997 for exploration of Saturn and its satellites with a suite of 13 instruments including an infrared spectrometer, and the Huygens probe with a variety of instruments for a soft landing on Titan, Saturn’s largest satellite. The spacecraft was inserted in Saturn’s orbit in July 2004, for an orbital tour of Saturn, its rings, Titan, and other satellites, in order to gain a better understanding of the origin and evolution of the solar system, the formation of the planets, the Earth, and the evolution of the atmospheres. It has been very successfully sending data on infrared observation of infrared spectra since then, and is now in its third extended mission to expire in 2017. With a brief description of the general objectives of the Cassini mission, this talk will focus on the capabilities and the objectives of the Composite Infrared Spectrometer (CIRS). CIRS is a dual far- and middle-infrared spectrometer designed for high spectral resolution nadir and limb observations of Saturn, Titan, and the icy satellites in the 10-1400 cm-1 (7 m to 1mm) spectral region. A brief description of the modes of observations and the analytical techniques for interpretation of the expected observed spectra of Saturn and Titan will be given, along with the current ongoing analysis and preliminary results of the thermal structure and composition of Saturn, and its largest moon, Titan, with some comparisons with the Earth.
Past Brown Bag Abstracts
The NASA/ESA Cassini spacecraft was launched in October 1997 for exploration of Saturn and its satellites with a suite of 13 instruments including an infrared spectrometer, and the Huygens probe with a variety of instruments for a soft landing on Titan, Saturn’s largest satellite. The spacecraft was inserted in Saturn’s orbit in July 2004, for an orbital tour of Saturn, its rings, Titan, and other satellites, in order to gain a better understanding of the origin and evolution of the solar system, the formation of the planets, the Earth, and the evolution of the atmospheres. It has been very successfully sending data on infrared observation of infrared spectra since then, and is now in its third extended mission to expire in 2017. With a brief description of the general objectives of the Cassini mission, this talk will focus on the capabilities and the objectives of the Composite Infrared Spectrometer (CIRS). CIRS is a dual far- and middle-infrared spectrometer designed for high spectral resolution nadir and limb observations of Saturn, Titan, and the icy satellites in the 10-1400 cm-1 (7 m to 1mm) spectral region. A brief description of the modes of observations and the analytical techniques for interpretation of the expected observed spectra of Saturn and Titan will be given, along with the current ongoing analysis and preliminary results of the thermal structure and composition of Saturn, and its largest moon, Titan, with some comparisons with the Earth.