Haze Silhouettes Against Titan's Glow

"A high-altitude haze layer residing some 400 Km above the surface of Titan is seen here traced along the limb of Titan as silhouetted against the glow of Titan's atmosphere produced by the fluorescence of methane gas. This detached haze layer can be seen as a dark lane imbedded within the gold-colored fluorescent layers of Titan. This image of Titan's limb and surface was obtained on Dec. 13, 2004 from a vantage point some 158.000 Km above the night side of Titan, at a phase angle of 161°. Beneath the fluorescence, Titan's surface at the extreme limb can be seen in blue color, illuminated by 5-micron wavelength sunlight that penetrates the thick atmosphere and hazes to reflect off the limb of Titan. The darkness of the silhouetted haze layer comprised of relatively small particles suggests that the particles themselves absorb strongly at the fluorescent wavelength and thus are possibly comprised of relatively complex hydrocarbon aerosols generated by photochemical processes in Titan's upper atmosphere".