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Collection:
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NASA Cassini-Huygens Collection
Collection
NASA Cassini-Huygens Collection
Collection
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Title:
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Titan: Complex 'Anti-greenhouse'
Title
Titan: Complex 'Anti-greenhouse'
Title
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Description:
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Titan: Complex 'Anti-greenhouse'
description
Titan: Complex 'Anti-greenhouse'
Description
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Full Description:
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This natural color image shows Titan's upper atmosphere -- an active place where methane molecules are being broken apart by solar ultraviolet light and the byproducts combine to form compounds like ethane and acetylene. The haze preferentially scatters blue and ultraviolet wavelengths of light, making its complex layered structure more easily visible at the shorter wavelengths used in this image. A movie sequence of images, taken around the same time as this color view, shows movement of the haze layers over the course of a few hours (see Titan's Shifting Hazes). Lower down in the atmosphere, the haze turns into a globe-enshrouding smog of complex organic molecules. This thick, orange-colored haze absorbs visible sunlight, allowing only perhaps 10 percent of the light to reach the surface. The thick haze is also inefficient at holding in and then re-radiating infrared (thermal) energy back down to the surface. Thus, despite the fact that Titan has a thicker atmosphere than Earth, the thick global haze causes the greenhouse effect there to be somewhat weaker than it is on Earth. Images taken with the Cassini spacecraft wide-angle camera using red, green and blue spectral filters were combined to create this natural color view. The images were obtained at a distance of approximately 9,500 kilometers (5,900 miles) from Titan on March 31, 2005. The image scale is approximately 400 meters (1,300 feet) per pixel. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging team is based at the Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colo. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.n…. For additional images visit the Cassini imaging team homepage http://ciclops.org. Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute
Full_Description
This natural color image shows Titan's upper atmosphere -- an active place where methane molecules are being broken apart by solar ultraviolet light and the byproducts combine to form compounds like ethane and acetylene. The haze preferentially scatters blue and ultraviolet wavelengths of light, making its complex layered structure more easily visible at the shorter wavelengths used in this image. A movie sequence of images, taken around the same time as this color view, shows movement of the haze layers over the course of a few hours (see Titan's Shifting Hazes). Lower down in the atmosphere, the haze turns into a globe-enshrouding smog of complex organic molecules. This thick, orange-colored haze absorbs visible sunlight, allowing only perhaps 10 percent of the light to reach the surface. The thick haze is also inefficient at holding in and then re-radiating infrared (thermal) energy back down to the surface. Thus, despite the fact that Titan has a thicker atmosphere than Earth, the thick global haze causes the greenhouse effect there to be somewhat weaker than it is on Earth. Images taken with the Cassini spacecraft wide-angle camera using red, green and blue spectral filters were combined to create this natural color view. The images were obtained at a distance of approximately 9,500 kilometers (5,900 miles) from Titan on March 31, 2005. The image scale is approximately 400 meters (1,300 feet) per pixel. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging team is based at the Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colo. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.n…. For additional images visit the Cassini imaging team homepage http://ciclops.org. Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute Full Description
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Date:
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May 2, 2005
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Keywords:
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flyby
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Keywords:
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Titan
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facet_what:
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Saturn
facet_what
Saturn
facet_what
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facet_what:
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Cassini
facet_what
Cassini
facet_what
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facet_what:
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Cassini-Huygens
facet_what
Cassini-Huygens
facet_what
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facet_what:
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Earth
facet_what
Earth
facet_what
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facet_what:
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Huygens Probe
facet_what
Huygens Probe
facet_what
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facet_what:
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Titan
facet_what
Titan
facet_what
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facet_what:
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Cassini Orbiter
facet_what
Cassini Orbiter
facet_what
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facet_where:
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Saturn
facet_where
Saturn
facet_where
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facet_where:
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Jet Propulsion Laboratory
facet_where
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
facet_where
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facet_where:
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California
facet_where
California
facet_where
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facet_where:
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Washington
facet_where
Washington
facet_where
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facet_where:
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Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)
facet_where
Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)
facet_where
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facet_where:
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Washington, D.C.
facet_where
Washington, D.C.
facet_where
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facet_when:
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March 31, 2005
facet_when
March 31, 2005
facet_when
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facet_when:
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May 2, 2005
facet_when
May 2, 2005
facet_when
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facet_when_year:
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2005
facet_when_year
2005
facet_when_year
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UID:
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SPD-SATRN-1512
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original url:
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original_url
original url
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