Explanation:
What did the Huygens probe see as it descended toward Saturn's Moon Titan?
In January the
robot
Cassini spacecraft now orbiting
Saturn
released a probe through the dense cloud decks of one of the
Solar System's most mysterious moons.
Below the clouds, as it descended, the probe took images of the
approaching surface as well as several
images from the surface itself.
Many of the images have now been digitally merged and scaled into the
above perspective from 3,000 meters high.
The above stereographic projection shows a 360-degree wide-angle view
of the surface of Titan.
The bright areas toward the top and left of the image are thought to be relatively high ground laced with
drainage channels cut by rivers of methane.
The bright shapes on the right are now
hypothesized to be ridges of ice gravel.
Huygen's landing site, labeled, appears to be on a type
of dark dry lakebed, once fed by a large dark flow channel on the left.
The Huygen's probe lasted an unexpectedly long three hours on
Titan's
harsh surface.
