Draft:Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer
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Comment: I don't really see any reason for a content fork of the article on the mission. The instrument's details can be summarised there. JavaHurricane 12:38, 7 June 2025 (UTC)
The Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS) was an instrument carried on board the Cassini spacecraft (1997-2017). Along with other instruments on Cassini Remote Sensing Payload (RSP) - ISS, CIRS and UVIS - VIMS was responsible for imaging and spectroscopy of planets and moons. Key discoveries from VIMS included the north polar hexagon on Saturn. VIMS was assembled at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) with key subsystems provided by the Italian Space Agency (Agenzia Spaziale Italiana) and France's CNRS (Centre Nationale de la Recherche Scientifique). The VIMS instrument investigation was led by Prof Robert Brown of the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory at the University of Arizona.
Design and Specifications
[edit]The VIMS was an evolution from the Near Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (NIMS) on Galileo.
As a spectral imaging instrument, VIMS consisted of separate 1D linear arrays of detectors covering both visible and near-infrared wavelengths.[1] By scanning the arrays across a target ('push broom' imaging) with each pixel capturing a spectrum, a 3D image cube was produced.
| Technical Specifications: | |
|---|---|
| Visible Channel: | 0.35 to 1.07 µm [96 channels] |
| Infrared Channel: | 0.85 to 5.1 µm [256 channels] |
| Field of View: | 32x32 mrad |
| Mass: | 37.14 kg |
| Peak Operating Power: | 27.20 W |
| Average Operating Power: | 21.83 W |
| Peak Data Rate: | 182.784 kilobits/sec |
| Dimensions: | 78 cm x 76 cm x 55 cm |
Key Discoveries
[edit]Saturn
[edit]
The infrared channels of VIMS were used to probe different regions of Saturn's atmosphere and rings. Spectroscopy showed spectral features attributed to water molecule absorptions on Saturn's icy ring material with a particle size of 5-20 microns.[2]
Color images can be constructed from VIMS data using false coloring: infrared wavelengths could be translated into traditional RGB color images (see example right: blue = 2 microns, green = 3 microns, red = 5 microns). In this image, ring particles reflect blue light but absorb longer wavelengths, while deep emission from Saturn is seen at red wavelengths. The southern aurora glows green. By viewing emissions from the H3+ molecule, VIMS was able to provide a detailed view of Saturn's aurora and hence the properties of its magnetic fields.[3]
Titan
[edit]
The VIMS instrument was able to peer through the haze on Saturn's moon Titan to directly map the surface in the infrared. This enabled VIMS to make geological maps of Titan confirming the presence or dune fields at the equator and lakes at the polar regions.[4]
VIMS also saw atmospheric effects on Titan, including a large cloud engulfing the northern pole in 2006, and attributed to condensed ethane gas.[5]
References
[edit]- ^ Brown, R. H.; Baines, K. H.; Bellucci, G.; Bibring, J.-P.; Buratti, B. J.; Capaccioni, F.; Cerroni, P.; Clark, R. N.; Coradini, A. (2004), Russell, Christopher T. (ed.), "The Cassini Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS) Investigation", The Cassini-Huygens Mission, Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers, pp. 111–168, Bibcode:2004chm..book..111B, doi:10.1007/1-4020-3874-7_3, ISBN 978-1-4020-3147-2, retrieved 2025-06-06
- ^ Nicholson, Philip D.; Hedman, Matthew M.; Clark, Roger N.; Showalter, Mark R.; Cruikshank, Dale P.; Cuzzi, Jeffrey N.; Filacchione, Gianrico; Capaccioni, Fabrizio; Cerroni, Priscilla; Hansen, Gary B.; Sicardy, Bruno; Drossart, Pierre; Brown, Robert H.; Buratti, Bonnie J.; Baines, Kevin H. (2008-01-01). "A close look at Saturn's rings with Cassini VIMS". Icarus. 193 (1): 182–212. Bibcode:2008Icar..193..182N. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2007.08.036. ISSN 0019-1035.
- ^ Melin, H.; Stallard, T.; Miller, S.; Gustin, J.; Galand, M.; Badman, S. V.; Pryor, W. R.; O'Donoghue, J.; Brown, R. H.; Baines, K. H. (2011). "Simultaneous Cassini VIMS and UVIS observations of Saturn's southern aurora: Comparing emissions from H, H2 and H3+ at a high spatial resolution". Geophysical Research Letters. 38 (15). doi:10.1029/2011GL048457. ISSN 1944-8007.
- ^ Le Mouélic, Stéphane; Cornet, Thomas; Rodriguez, Sébastien; Sotin, Christophe; Barnes, Jason W.; Baines, Kevin H.; Brown, Robert H.; Lefèvre, Axel; Buratti, Bonnie J.; Clark, Roger N.; Nicholson, Philip D. (2012-12-01). "Global mapping of Titan′s surface using an empirical processing method for the atmospheric and photometric correction of Cassini/VIMS images". Planetary and Space Science. Solar System science before and after Gaia. 73 (1): 178–190. Bibcode:2012P&SS...73..178L. doi:10.1016/j.pss.2012.09.008. ISSN 0032-0633.
- ^ Staff, Astronomy (2007-02-02). "Cloud cover over Titan | Astronomy.com". Astronomy Magazine. Retrieved 2025-06-06.