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Titanian "Deluge"
Caption NASA:"This series of images from NASA's Cassini Spacecraft shows changes on the Surface of Saturn's moon Titan, as the transition to Northern Spring brings Methane Rains to the moon's Equatorial Latitudes. Some of the most significant changes appear within a period of only a couple of weeks.
The brightest objects seen in these images are Methane Clouds in the Troposphere, such as the lowest part of the Atmosphere, which are most visible on the left of panel B, the lower half of panel C, and the right of panel D. 
Surface features appear in shades of gray. 

These images show changes (outlined area) along the Southern Boundary of a Dunefield near the Equator named Belet. Dark Belet occupies most of the top of these images (Belet looks dark because it is made from different materials than neighboring areas).

Titan's Equatorial Latitudes are mostly arid. However, scientists interpret the changes seen in these images to be evidence of Methane Rain wetting the Surface. Scientists have monitored the brightness of Titan's Surface, including this area, for years and have ruled out other possible causes of the changes. In these images, some of the dark areas grow larger and then recede within weeks. The maximum extent of the changes is shown with a blue outline.

Years ago, images from the European Space Agency's Huygens probe and the Cassini radar instrument revealed Dry Channels near the Equator. The new observations suggest the climate here is similar to that in the South-Western part of the United States, where infrequent Rain carves washes and riverbeds.

Titan's weather has been changing with the Seasons, and Storms now are more common at low Latitudes, such as those observed here. An arrow-shaped Storm cloud several hundred kilometers across was observed on Sept. 27, 2010. 

The first image in this montage, panel A on the left, was taken early in the Cassini Mission on Oct. 22, 2007, and shows how this Region had appeared before the Storms. 
The second image, panel B, was taken on Sept. 27, 2010. The huge arrow-shaped Cloud is just out-of-frame to the left in panel B. 
The arrow-shaped cloud was quickly followed by extensive changes on the Surface that can be seen in panel C, an image captured on Oct. 14, 2010. These changes cover an area of approx. 500.000 square Km (310.500 square miles), roughly the combined area of Arizona and Utah in the United States.
The wet Terrain can still be seen about a month after the storm in panel D, which was taken on Oct. 29, 2010. 
But by Jan. 15, 2011, which was the date of panel E, the area mostly appears dry and bright, with a much smaller area still dark (such as wet).

These images were re-projected, and the view in each is centered on Terrain at 19° South Latitude and 251° West Longitude. 
Images in panels A, B, D, and E were taken with the Cassini Spacecraft narrow-angle camera using a spectral filter sensitive to wavelengths of Near-InfraRed Light centered at 938 nanometers. 
The image in panel C was taken with the Cassini wide-angle camera using the same filter. The views were obtained at a range of distances from approx. 211.000 Km (131.031 miles) to about 1,85 MKM (such as 1.148.850 miles) from Titan. 
Scale is about 7 Km (4,3469 miles) per pixel in these re-projected images".
Parole chiave: Titan

Titanian "Deluge"

Caption NASA:"This series of images from NASA's Cassini Spacecraft shows changes on the Surface of Saturn's moon Titan, as the transition to Northern Spring brings Methane Rains to the moon's Equatorial Latitudes. Some of the most significant changes appear within a period of only a couple of weeks.
The brightest objects seen in these images are Methane Clouds in the Troposphere, such as the lowest part of the Atmosphere, which are most visible on the left of panel B, the lower half of panel C, and the right of panel D.
Surface features appear in shades of gray.

These images show changes (outlined area) along the Southern Boundary of a Dunefield near the Equator named Belet. Dark Belet occupies most of the top of these images (Belet looks dark because it is made from different materials than neighboring areas).

Titan's Equatorial Latitudes are mostly arid. However, scientists interpret the changes seen in these images to be evidence of Methane Rain wetting the Surface. Scientists have monitored the brightness of Titan's Surface, including this area, for years and have ruled out other possible causes of the changes. In these images, some of the dark areas grow larger and then recede within weeks. The maximum extent of the changes is shown with a blue outline.

Years ago, images from the European Space Agency's Huygens probe and the Cassini radar instrument revealed Dry Channels near the Equator. The new observations suggest the climate here is similar to that in the South-Western part of the United States, where infrequent Rain carves washes and riverbeds.

Titan's weather has been changing with the Seasons, and Storms now are more common at low Latitudes, such as those observed here. An arrow-shaped Storm cloud several hundred kilometers across was observed on Sept. 27, 2010.

The first image in this montage, panel A on the left, was taken early in the Cassini Mission on Oct. 22, 2007, and shows how this Region had appeared before the Storms.
The second image, panel B, was taken on Sept. 27, 2010. The huge arrow-shaped Cloud is just out-of-frame to the left in panel B.
The arrow-shaped cloud was quickly followed by extensive changes on the Surface that can be seen in panel C, an image captured on Oct. 14, 2010. These changes cover an area of approx. 500.000 square Km (310.500 square miles), roughly the combined area of Arizona and Utah in the United States.
The wet Terrain can still be seen about a month after the storm in panel D, which was taken on Oct. 29, 2010.
But by Jan. 15, 2011, which was the date of panel E, the area mostly appears dry and bright, with a much smaller area still dark (such as wet).

These images were re-projected, and the view in each is centered on Terrain at 19° South Latitude and 251° West Longitude.
Images in panels A, B, D, and E were taken with the Cassini Spacecraft narrow-angle camera using a spectral filter sensitive to wavelengths of Near-InfraRed Light centered at 938 nanometers.
The image in panel C was taken with the Cassini wide-angle camera using the same filter. The views were obtained at a range of distances from approx. 211.000 Km (131.031 miles) to about 1,85 MKM (such as 1.148.850 miles) from Titan.
Scale is about 7 Km (4,3469 miles) per pixel in these re-projected images".

Titan-Clouds-PIA13400.jpg Titan-Clouds-Rain_Clouds-PIA12818-00.jpg Titan-Clouds-Rain_Clouds-PIA12818-01.jpg Titan-Clouds-Rain_Clouds-PIA12819.jpg Titan-Clouds-South_Polar_White_Clouds-PIA06510_modest.jpg
Informazioni sul file
Nome del file:Titan-Clouds-Rain_Clouds-PIA12818-01.jpg
Nome album:MareKromium / Titan: The "Foggy" Moon
Valutazione (1 voti):55555(Mostra dettagli)
Parole chiave:Titan
Copyright:NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute
Dimensione del file:127 KiB
Data di inserimento:Mar 22, 2011
Dimensioni:2035 x 396 pixels
Visualizzato:137 volte
URL:https://www.lunexit.it/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=28693
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