| Piú votate - Titan: The "Foggy" Moon |
Titan_and_Dione-EB-LXTT-1.jpgFading in the Background... (Natural Colors; credits: Elisabetta Bonora - Lunexit Team)54 visitenessun commentoMareKromium
(8 voti)
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Titan-Lakes-Unnamed_North_Polar_Lake-PIA12481.jpgReflection of Sunlight off a Titanian Northern Lake (Natural Colors; credits: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona/DLR)173 visiteThis image shows the first flash of sunlight reflected off a lake on Saturn's moon Titan. The glint off a mirror-like surface is known as a specular reflection. This kind of glint was detected by the visual and infrared mapping spectrometer (VIMS) on NASA's Cassini spacecraft on July 8, 2009. It confirmed the presence of liquid in the moon's northern hemisphere, where lakes are more numerous and larger than those in the southern hemisphere. Scientists using VIMS had confirmed the presence of liquid in Ontario Lacus, the largest lake in the southern hemisphere, in 2008.
The northern hemisphere was shrouded in darkness for nearly 15 years, but the sun began to illuminate the area again as it approached its spring equinox in August 2009. VIMS was able to detect the glint as the viewing geometry changed. Titan's hazy atmosphere also scatters and absorbs many wavelengths of light, including most of the visible light spectrum. But the VIMS instrument enabled scientists to look for the glint in infrared wavelengths that were able to penetrate through the moon's atmosphere. This image was created using wavelengths of light in the 5 micron range.
By comparing the new image to radar and near-infrared light images acquired from 2006 to 2008, Cassini scientists were able to correlate the reflection to the southern shoreline of a Titan lake called Kraken Mare. The sprawling Kraken Mare covers about 400,000 square kilometers (150,000 square miles). The reflection appeared to come from a part of the lake around 71 degrees north latitude and 337 degrees west latitude.
It was taken on Cassini's 59th flyby of Titan on July 8, 2009, at a distance of about 200,000 kilometers (120,000 miles). The image resolution was about 100 kilometers (60 miles) per pixel. Image processing was done at the German Aerospace Center in Berlin and the University of Arizona in Tucson.
MareKromium
(8 voti)
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Titan-N00121492.jpgTitan (natural colors; credits: Lunexit)56 visitenessun commentoMareKromium
(8 voti)
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Titan_and_Saturn-PIA08398.jpgIn-Transit...54 visiteThe murky orange disk of Saturn's moon Titan glides past -- a silent, floating sphere transiting Saturn.
Titan's photochemical smog completely obscures the surface in such natural color views. Its high-altitude hazes are visible against the disk of Saturn as they attenuate the light reflected by the Planet.
This view was acquired from less than 1° above Saturn's Ring-Plane.
Images taken using red, green and blue spectral filters were combined to create this natural color view. The images were obtained with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Aug. 1, 2007, at a distance of approx. 2,4 MKM (such as about 1,5 MMs) from Titan. Image scale is roughly 15 Km (about 9 miles) per pixel.MareKromium
(8 voti)
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Titan-Lakes-Unnamed_North_Polar_Lakes-05-PIA08741.jpgTitanian Northern Lakes (5)88 visiteCaption NASA originale:"This lake is part of a larger image taken by the Cassini radar instrument during a flyby of Saturn's moon Titan on Sept. 23, 2006.
It shows clear shorelines that are reminiscent of terrestrial lakes. With Titan's colder temperatures and hydrocarbon-rich atmosphere, however, the lake likely contain a combination of methane and ethane, not water.
Centered near 74° North Latitude and 65° West Longitude, this lake is roughly 20 by 25 Km (about 12 to 16 miles) across. It features several narrow or angular bays, including a broad peninsula that on Earth would be evidence that the surrounding terrain is higher and confines the liquid. Broader bays, such as the one seen at right, might result when the terrain is gentler, as for example on a beach".
(8 voti)
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Titan-Map-PIA02147.jpgGlobal Titan Map (Visual + IMS)55 visiteThis global infrared map of Titan was composed with data from Cassini's visual and infrared mapping spectrometer taken during the last two Titan flybys, on Dec. 26, 2005, and Jan. 15, 2006.
There are several important features to note in this Map:
1) the globe of Titan exhibits 2 major types of terrain: one is very bright, and a darker one seems to be concentrated near the Equator;
2) Titan has two very bright Regions: the large one known as Tui Reggio, located at approx. 25° South Lat. and 130° West Long., and the other as Hotei Arcus, at 20° South Lat. and 80° West Long. These regions are thought to be surface deposits, probably of volcanic origin, and may be water and/or carbon dioxide frozen from the volcanic vapor; the western margins of Tui Reggio have a complex flow-like structure consistent with eruptive phenomena;
3) the reddish feature at the South Pole is Titan's South Polar cloud system, which was very bright during the December flyby;
4) The Sinlap Crater is clearly visible at approx. 13° North Lat. and 16° West Long. The poorly resolved Regions between Longitudes of 30° and 150° East will be filled in during subsequent flybys.
(8 voti)
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Titan-Huygens_Landing_Site-01-PIA06435.jpgHuygens' Landing Site (true colors)55 visiteOriginal caption:"This frame is (...) a composite of Cassini imaging science sub-system images, radar images and visual and infrared mapping spectrometer images of the Huygens probe landing area.
(...) It displays the Titan surface in true color.
(...) The probe was delivered to Titan by the Cassini spacecraft, which is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. NASA supplied two instruments on the probe: the descent imager/spectral radiometer and the gas chromatograph mass spectrometer".
(8 voti)
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Titan-Crescent-00.jpgTitan from approx. 347.000 Km55 visitenessun commento
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Titan-Regions-Adiri_Region-PIA12591.jpgAdiri Region (Absolute Natural Colors; credits: Dr Paolo C. Fienga - Lunexit Team)55 visiteCaption NASA:"The Cassini Spacecraft takes a look through the Atmosphere of Saturn's largest moon to spy light and dark in the area called Adiri.
This view looks toward the moon's anti-Saturn side and is centered on terrain at about 2° South Lat. and 218° West Long.
North on Titan is up and rotated 6° to the left.
The image was taken with the Cassini Spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Jan. 29, 2010 using a spectral filter sensitive to wavelengths of Near-InfraRed Light centered at 938 nanometers. The view was acquired at a distance of approx. 285.000 Km (about 177.000 miles) from Titan and at a Sun-Titan-Spacecraft, or Phase, Angle of 45°.
Image scale is roughly 2 Km (about 1,2 mile) per pixel".MareKromium
(7 voti)
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Titan-N00152517-26-EB-LXTT.jpgJust a "Slice" of Titan... (an Image-Mosaic in Natural Colors by Elisabetta Bonora - Lunexit Team)55 visitenessun commentoMareKromium
(7 voti)
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Titan-Regions-Belet_Region-PIA12559.jpgBelet Region on Titan (Natural Colors; credits: Dr Paolo C. Fienga - Lunexit Team)55 visiteCaption NASA:"The Cassini Spacecraft looks toward the dark Region of Belet, on Saturn's largest moon, Titan.
This large Region on the moon has a low albedo, meaning it diffusely reflects little light. This view looks toward the area between the Trailing Hemisphere and the Anti-Saturn Side of Titan. North on Titan is up and rotated 8° to the left.
The image was taken with the Cassini Spacecraft wide-angle camera on Dec. 28, 2009 using a spectral filter sensitive to wavelengths of Near-InfraRed Light centered at 939 nanometers. The view was obtained at a distance of approx. 282.000 Km (such as about 175.000 miles) from Titan and at a Sun-Titan-Spacecraft, or Phase, Angle of 45°.
Image scale is roughly 17 Km (about 10 miles) per pixel".MareKromium
(7 voti)
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Titan_and_Tethys-N00147394-96-EB-LXTT.jpgSaturnian Gems: Titan and Tethys (Natural Colors; credits: Elisabetta Bonora - Lunexit Team)55 visitenessun commentoMareKromium
(7 voti)
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