Cassini VIMS Preliminary Exploration of Titan's Surface Hemispheric Albedo Dichotomy

We present preliminary evidence that suggests a hemispheric albedo dichotomy on Titan, the largest planetary satellite in the Solar System. We have also studied the photometric properties of several dark circular features on Titan's surface to test if they might be of impact origin. The evidence is derived from photometric analysis of selected surface regions taken at different Titanian longitudes and solar phase angles using images from the Cassini Saturn Orbiter Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS). The VIMS instrument is able to image Titan's surface at spectral windows (e.g. 2.02 microns) in its atmosphere where methane, the principal atmospheric absorber is transparent. Additional information is included in the original extended abstract.