Astronomy Picture of the Day

                         Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! [1] Each day a different image or photograph of our
 fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a
                           professional astronomer.

                                2018 August 18
                                      [2]
                                Seeing Titan
      Image Credit: VIMS Team [3] , U. Arizona [4] , ESA [5] , NASA [6]

Explanation: Shrouded in a thick atmosphere, Saturn's largest moon Titan [7]
really is hard to see. Small particles suspended in the upper atmosphere cause
an almost impenetrable haze, strongly scattering light at visible wavelengths
and hiding Titan's surface features from prying eyes. But Titan's surface [8]
is better imaged at infrared wavelengths where scattering is weaker and
atmospheric absorption is reduced. Arrayed around this centered visible light
image of Titan are some of the clearest global infrared views of the
tantalizing [9]  moon so far. In false color, the six panels present [10]  a
consistent processing of 13 years of infrared image data from the Visual and
Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS) on board (link)the Cassini spacecraft.
They offer a stunning comparison with Cassini's visible light view.

                      Tomorrow's picture: rippling cloud

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
< [11] | Archive [12] | Submissions [13] | Index [14] | Search [15] | Calendar
  [16] | RSS [17] | Education [18] | About APOD [19] | Discuss [20] | > [21]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff [22] (MTU [23] ) & Jerry Bonnell [24]
                                  (UMCP [25] )
          NASA Official:  Phillip Newman Specific rights apply [26] .
              NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices [27]
              A service of: ASD [28]  at NASA [29]  / GSFC [30]
                           & Michigan Tech. U. [31]
----------
Site notes:
  [1] archivepix.html
  [2] image/1808/PIA21923_fig1SeeingTitan2400.jpg
  [3] http://wwwvims.lpl.arizona.edu/
  [4] http://pirlwww.lpl.arizona.edu/
  [5] http://www.esa.int/
  [6] http://www.nasa.gov/
  [7] https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/moons/saturn-moo... in-depth/
  [8] ap150116.html
  [9] ap140919.html
  [10] https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA...
  [11] ap180817.html
  [12] archivepix.html
  [13] lib/apsubmit2015.html
  [14] lib/aptree.html
  [15] https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apo...
  [16] calendar/allyears.html
  [17] /apod.rss
  [18] lib/edlinks.html
  [19] lib/about_apod.html
  [20] http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?dat...
  [21] ap180819.html
  [22] http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  [23] http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  [24] https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnel...
  [25] http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  [26] lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  [27] https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Priv...
  [28] https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  [29] https://www.nasa.gov/
  [30] https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  [31] http://www.mtu.edu/

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A39 (Windows/32)
 * Origin: FIDONet - The Positronium Repository (1:393/68)