Astronomy Picture of the Day

Titan Surmised


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zorg.ch
#61060 by @ 21.12.2004 00:00 - nach oben -
Titan Surmised


Explanation:
What does the surface of Titan look like?

Thick clouds have always made
Saturn's largest moon so mysterious that
seemingly farfetched hypotheses like
methane rain and lakes have been seriously considered.

Later this week, the Cassini spacecraft orbiting
Saturn
is scheduled to release its
probe named Huygens that will actually attempt to land on the shrouded moon in early January.

Sketched above is one educated guess of what
Huygens might find.

In the above depiction, orange
hydrocarbons
color a landscape covered with lakes and peaks of frozen
methane and
ammonia.

For illustration purposes, the
Huygens probe is drawn parachuting down with an oversized
Cassini spacecraft orbiting above.

Saturn, likely occluded by the
clouds,
is depicted looming in the distance.

What will Huygens really find?

Are the building blocks of
life frozen onto the surface of Titan?

Will the truth be stranger than we imagined?


News: APOD editor to speak in January in New York


Credit & Copyright
zorg.ch
#61073 by @ 21.12.2004 15:22 - nach oben -
tami, uf kollision mitem saturn, chönt me meine
zorg.ch
#61076 by @ 21.12.2004 15:33, edited @ 21.12.2004 15:46 - nach oben -
chönnt me vo üsem mond us öppe au meine, wenn d'ärde so gross wär wie de saturn. aber zum glück flüged so mönd ja rund ume und nid quer düre.
zorg.ch
#61077 by @ 21.12.2004 15:34 - nach oben -
gäbt no e schöns schauspiel
zorg.ch
#61078 by @ 21.12.2004 15:40 - nach oben -
wär wenigstens mol spannend
zorg.ch
#61410 by @ 22.12.2004 22:32, edited @ 22.12.2004 22:32 - nach oben -
mönd flüget sehr gern uf dä eigä planet: Phobos und Deimos zum bispiel.

guet, üssern mond entfernt sich mit ungefähr mit 1cm/johr. leider wird er niä ufd erdä fallä. schad....
zorg.ch
#61411 by @ 22.12.2004 22:33 - nach oben -
do chame sicher nohelfe