The largest moon of Saturn [ http://www.seds.org…] is a rare wonder. Titan [ http://www.seds.org…] is the only one of Saturn’s moons with an atmosphere, and one of only two moons in the Solar System [ http://www.seds.org…] with this distinction (Neptune’s Triton [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] is the other). Titan’s thick cloudy atmosphere is mostly nitrogen, like Earth’s, but contains much higher percentages of “smog-like” chemicals such as methane and ethane. The smog may be so thick that it actually rains “gasoline-like” liquids. The organic nature of some of the chemicals found in Titan [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…]’s atmosphere cause some to speculate that Titan may harbor life! Because of its thick cloud cover, however, Titan’s actual surface properties remain mysterious. Voyager 1 flew by in 1980 taking the above picture, and more recently much has been learned from observations [ http://oposite.stsc…] by the Hubble Space Telescope [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…]. The Cassini mission [ http://www.jpl.nasa…] launched in 1997 will map Titan’s surface in 2004, helping to solve some of its mysteries.Credit and Copyright:
Voyager [ http://vraptor.jpl.…] 2, NASA [ http://www.nasa.gov/]
keyword:
Titan
keyword:
Saturn
facet_when:
1997
facet_when:
2004
facet_when:
1980
facet_where:
Saturn
facet_where:
Triton
facet_where:
Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC)
facet_where:
Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)
facet_what:
Earth
facet_what:
Voyager
facet_what:
Moon
facet_what:
Saturn
facet_what:
Cassini
facet_what:
Titan
facet_what:
Neptune
facet_what:
Voyager 1
facet_what:
moon
facet_what:
Hubble Space Telescope (HST)
facet_when_year:
1997
facet_when_year:
2004
facet_when_year:
1980
original url:
http://antwrp.gsfc.…
UID:
SPD-APOD-ap990207
Image ID:
108294
Resolution Size:
3
Format:
JPEG
Media Type:
Image
File Name:
titan_vg2_big.jpg
Width:
730
Height:
756
Tags: galaxy, nasa, photo, space, star, Titan: Saturn's Smog Moon, Universe
