Posted in Astronomy at 12:00 on 2 June 2022
This is of course not our own moon.
Titan, however has an atmosphere, itself murky at visible wavelengths of light but which would make its edges shimmery in any case, as pictured by the Cassini spacecraft above Saturn’s rings and clouds, showing off the hemisphere which Saturn never sees.
From Astronomy Picture of the Day for 27/5/22.
Posted in Astronomy at 12:00 on 26 November 2014
A movie showing liquid on the surface of a world other than Earth?
Yes indeed. This is Saturn’s moon Titan and its methane/ethane lakes in a digital compilation of still radar images from NASA’s Cassinni satellite. The liquid is deep blue, the higher land tan coloured.
The video featured on Astronomy Picture of the Day on 24/11/14.
Posted in Astronomy at 00:06 on 23 July 2013
The above is a photo of the Earth and Moon as taken from the Cassini spacecraft in orbit around Saturn.
A slightly different view is given on yesterday’s Astronomy Picture of the Day.
The photo was taken on July 19th.
The JPL site (Jet Propulsion Laboratory) has more.
Posted in Astronomy at 19:38 on 23 January 2012
Yes, Astronomy Picture of the Day again (22/1/12.)
This is really weird. It’s a storm on Saturn, located at its north pole. The source as usual is the Cassini probe.
Quite how a storm can result in a hexagonal pattern is puzzling. More puzzling still is how it has lasted – since it was discovered in the 1980s flypasts.
This is the same storm in infrared (from APOD of 3/4/07.)
This links to a photo of hexagonal cloud forms on Earth, the nearest similar meteorological phenomenon.
Here’s a time-lapse film of Saturn’s north polar storm. Don’t blink or you’ll miss it.
