Media Information
 
 
 
Collection:
NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day Collection
Title:
The Double Haze above Titan
Explanation:
Most moons have no haze layer at all - why does Titan have two? Images from the Cassini spacecraft [ http://saturn.jpl.n…] that slipped into orbit [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] around Saturn [ http://www.nineplan…] last month confirm that the Solar System's most mysterious moon [ http://www.nineplan…] is surrounded not only by a thick atmosphere but also by two distinct spheres of haze [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…]. These layers are visible [ http://photojournal…] as purple in the above false-color ultraviolet image. Titan's opaque atmosphere [ http://www.esa.int/…] is similar to Earth's atmosphere [ http://csep10.phys.…] in that it is composed mostly of nitrogen [ http://pearl1.lanl.…]. As energetic sunlight strikes high level atmospheric nitrogen and methane [ http://scifun.chem.…], trace amounts of organic compounds [ http://en.wikipedia…] such as ethane [ http://en.wikipedia…] and carbon dioxide [ http://scifun.chem.…] appear to form. These and other complex organic molecules [ http://aro.as.arizo…] likely populate the detached haze layer [ http://www.nasa.gov…]. In December 2004, Cassini will launch the Huygens [ http://www.esa.int/…] probe to land on Titan [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…].
Credit and Copyright:
Cassini Imaging Team [ http://ciclops.lpl.…], SSI [ http://www.spacesci…], JPL [ http://www.jpl.nasa…], ESA [ http://www.esa.int/], NASA [ http://www.nasa.gov/]
facet_when:
December 2004
facet_where:
Arizona
facet_where:
Saturn
facet_where:
Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC)
facet_where:
Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)
facet_what:
Earth
facet_what:
Moon
facet_what:
Saturn
facet_what:
Cassini
facet_what:
Titan
facet_what:
TRACE
facet_what:
Huygens Probe
facet_what:
Cassini-Huygens
facet_when_year:
2004
original url:
http://antwrp.gsfc.…
UID:
SPD-APOD-ap040810

The Double Haze above Titan
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