Astronomy Picture of the Day

Huygens on Titan Illustrated


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#84052 by @ 01.02.2006 00:00 - nach oben -
Huygens on Titan Illustrated


Explanation:
If you could stand on Titan, what might you see?

About one year ago the
robotic Huygens probe
landed on the enigmatic moon of
Saturn
and sent back the first ever images from beneath
Titan's thick
cloud layers.

From the images
sent
back, an artist's impression of
Huygens on Titan's surface has been reconstructed.

In the foreground of the
above image
sits the car-sized lander that sent back images for more than 90 minutes
before running out of battery power.

The parachute that slowed
Huygen's re-entry is seen in the background, attached to the lander by strong cords.

Strange light smooth stones possibly
containing water-ice are visible surrounding the landing craft.

Analyses of Huygen's images and data shows that Titan's surface today has
intriguing similarities to the surface of the
early Earth.




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