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Collection:
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NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day Collection
Collection
NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day Collection
Collection
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Title:
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Titania's Trenches
Title
Titania's Trenches
Title
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Explanation:
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British astronomer Sir William Herschel [ http://star.arm.ac.…] discovered Titania and Oberon in January of 1787. He wasn't reading Shakespeare's [ http://the-tech.mit…] "A Midsummer Night's Dream" though, he was making the first telescopic observations of moons of the planet Uranus [ http://seds.lpl.ari…] (a planet which he himself discovered in 1781 [ http://www-groups.d…HistTopics/Neptune_a nd_Pluto.html ]). In January of 1986, nearly 200 years later, NASA's robot explorer Voyager 2 became the only spacecraft to visit the remote Uranian [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] system [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…]. Above is Voyager's highest resolution picture of Titania [ http://photojournal…PIAGenCatalogPage.pl ?PIA00039 ], Uranus' largest moon. The picture is a composite of two images recorded from a distance of 229,000 miles. The icy, rocky world [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] is seen to be covered with impact craters. A prominent system of fault valleys, some nearly 1,000 miles long, is visible as trench-like features near the terminator (shadow line). Deposits of highly reflective material which may represent frost can be seen along the sun-facing valley walls. The large impact crater near the top, known as Gertrude [ http://wwwflag.wr.u…], is about 180 miles across. At the bottom the 60 mile wide fault valley, Belmont Chasma [ http://wwwflag.wr.u…], cuts into crater Ursula. Titania itself [ http://wwwflag.wr.u…] is 1,000 miles in diameter.
Explanation
British astronomer Sir William Herschel [ http://star.arm.ac.…] discovered Titania and Oberon in January of 1787. He wasn't reading Shakespeare's [ http://the-tech.mit…] "A Midsummer Night's Dream" though, he was making the first telescopic observations of moons of the planet Uranus [ http://seds.lpl.ari…] (a planet which he himself discovered in 1781 [ http://www-groups.d…HistTopics/Neptune_a nd_Pluto.html ]). In January of 1986, nearly 200 years later, NASA's robot explorer Voyager 2 became the only spacecraft to visit the remote Uranian [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] system [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…]. Above is Voyager's highest resolution picture of Titania [ http://photojournal…PIAGenCatalogPage.pl ?PIA00039 ], Uranus' largest moon. The picture is a composite of two images recorded from a distance of 229,000 miles. The icy, rocky world [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] is seen to be covered with impact craters. A prominent system of fault valleys, some nearly 1,000 miles long, is visible as trench-like features near the terminator (shadow line). Deposits of highly reflective material which may represent frost can be seen along the sun-facing valley walls. The large impact crater near the top, known as Gertrude [ http://wwwflag.wr.u…], is about 180 miles across. At the bottom the 60 mile wide fault valley, Belmont Chasma [ http://wwwflag.wr.u…], cuts into crater Ursula. Titania itself [ http://wwwflag.wr.u…] is 1,000 miles in diameter. Explanation
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Credit and Copyright:
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Credit_and_Copyright
Credit and Copyright
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keyword:
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voyager
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keyword:
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uranus moon
keyword
uranus moon
keyword
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keyword:
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titania
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keyword:
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herschel
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keyword:
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shakespeare
keyword
shakespeare
keyword
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facet_when:
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1787
facet_when
1787
facet_when
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facet_when:
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1986
facet_when
1986
facet_when
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facet_when:
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1781
facet_when
1781
facet_when
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facet_where:
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Arizona
facet_where
Arizona
facet_where
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facet_where:
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Pluto
facet_where
Pluto
facet_where
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facet_where:
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Uranus
facet_where
Uranus
facet_where
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facet_where:
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Titania
facet_where
Titania
facet_where
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facet_where:
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Oberon
facet_where
Oberon
facet_where
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facet_where:
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Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC)
facet_where
Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC)
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_what:
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Voyager
facet_what
Voyager
facet_what
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facet_what:
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Moon
facet_what
Moon
facet_what
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facet_what:
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Sun
facet_what
Sun
facet_what
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facet_what:
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Pluto
facet_what
Pluto
facet_what
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facet_what:
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Crater
facet_what
Crater
facet_what
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facet_what:
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Voyager 2
facet_what
Voyager 2
facet_what
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facet_what:
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Neptune
facet_what
Neptune
facet_what
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facet_what:
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Explorer
facet_what
Explorer
facet_what
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facet_what:
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Uranus
facet_what
Uranus
facet_what
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facet_what:
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Titania
facet_what
Titania
facet_what
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facet_what:
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Oberon
facet_what
Oberon
facet_what
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facet_when_year:
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1986
facet_when_year
1986
facet_when_year
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facet_when_year:
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1787
facet_when_year
1787
facet_when_year
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facet_when_year:
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1781
facet_when_year
1781
facet_when_year
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original url:
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original_url
original url
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UID:
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SPD-APOD-ap000930
UID
SPD-APOD-ap000930
UID
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