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Science 7 October 2005:
Vol. 310. no. 5745, pp. 92 - 95
DOI: 10.1126/science.1117075
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Reports

A 5-Micron-Bright Spot on Titan: Evidence for Surface Diversity

Jason W. Barnes,1* Robert H. Brown,1 Elizabeth P. Turtle,1 Alfred S. McEwen,1 Ralph D. Lorenz,1 Michael Janssen,2 Emily L. Schaller,3 Michael E. Brown,3 Bonnie J. Buratti,2 Christophe Sotin,4 Caitlin Griffith,1 Roger Clark,5 Jason Perry,1 Stephanie Fussner,1 John Barbara,6 Richard West,2 Charles Elachi,2 Antonin H. Bouchez,7 Henry G. Roe,3 Kevin H. Baines,2 Giancarlo Bellucci,8 Jean-Pierre Bibring,9 Fabrizio Capaccioni,10 Priscilla Cerroni,10 Michel Combes,11 Angioletta Coradini,8 Dale P. Cruikshank,12 Pierre Drossart,11 Vittorio Formisano,8 Ralf Jaumann,13 Yves Langevin,9 Dennis L. Matson,2 Thomas B. McCord,14 Phillip D. Nicholson,15 Bruno Sicardy11

Observations from the Cassini Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer show an anomalously bright spot on Titan located at 80°W and 20°S. This area is bright in reflected light at all observed wavelengths, but is most noticeable at 5 microns. The spot is associated with a surface albedo feature identified in images taken by the Cassini Imaging Science Subsystem. We discuss various hypotheses about the source of the spot, reaching the conclusion that the spot is probably due to variation in surface composition, perhaps associated with recent geophysical phenomena.

1 Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA.
2 Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91109, USA.
3 Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA.
4 Laboratoire de Planétologie et Géodynamique, UMR CNRS 6112, Université de Nantes, France.
5 U.S. Geological Survey, Flagstaff, AZ 86001, USA.
6 NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, New York, NY 10025, USA.
7 W. M. Keck Observatory, Kamuela, HI 96743, USA.
8 Istituto di Fisica dello Spazio Interplanetario, Consiglio Nazionale delle Richerche, Rome 00133, Italy.
9 Institut d'Astrophysique Spatiale, Université de Paris-Sud, Orsay 91405, France.
10 Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale e Fisica Cosmica, Consiglio Nazionale delle Richerche, Rome, Italy.
11 Observatoire de Paris, Meudon, France.
12 NASA Ames Research Center, Moffet Field, Mountain View, CA 94035–1000, USA.
13 Institute of Planetary Exploration, German Aerospace Center, Berlin 12489, Germany.
14 Department of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195–1310, USA.
15 Department of Astronomy, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: jbarnes{at}lpl.arizona.edu.

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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)