by APOD Robot » Sun Mar 27, 2022 4:05 am
Titan Seas Reflect Sunlight
Explanation: Why would the surface of Titan light up with a blinding flash? The reason: a
sunglint from liquid seas. Saturn's moon
Titan has numerous smooth
lakes of methane that, when the angle is right, reflect sunlight as if they were mirrors.
Pictured here in false-color, the
robotic Cassini spacecraft that orbited Saturn from 2004 to 2017 imaged the
cloud-covered Titan in 2014 in different bands of cloud-piercing
infrared light. This
specular reflection was so bright it saturated one of Cassini's infrared cameras. Although the
sunglint was
annoying -- it was also
useful. The reflecting regions confirm that northern
Titan houses a wide and complex array of seas with a geometry that
indicates periods of significant evaporation. During its numerous passes of
our Solar System's most mysterious moon, Cassini has revealed
Titan to be a world with
active weather -- including times when it rains a liquefied version of
natural gas.
[url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap220327.html] [img]https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/S_220327.jpg[/img] [size=150]Titan Seas Reflect Sunlight[/size][/url]
[b] Explanation: [/b] Why would the surface of Titan light up with a blinding flash? The reason: a [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunglint]sunglint[/url] from liquid seas. Saturn's moon [url=https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/moons/saturn-moons/titan/in-depth/]Titan[/url] has numerous smooth [url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap131220.html]lakes of methane[/url] that, when the angle is right, reflect sunlight as if they were mirrors. [url=https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA18432]Pictured here[/url] in false-color, the [url=https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/missions/cassini/mission/spacecraft/cassini-orbiter/]robotic Cassini spacecraft[/url] that orbited Saturn from 2004 to 2017 imaged the [url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap040810.html]cloud-covered Titan[/url] in 2014 in different bands of cloud-piercing [url=https://science.nasa.gov/ems/07_infraredwaves]infrared light[/url]. This [url=https://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/primer/java/scienceopticsu/reflection/specular/]specular reflection[/url] was so bright it saturated one of Cassini's infrared cameras. Although the [url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap980608.html]sunglint[/url] was [url=https://www.sheknows.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/jornsvt4ojwh8kcnekqh.jpeg]annoying[/url] -- it was also [url=https://i.pinimg.com/originals/bf/f5/d0/bff5d074d399bdfec6071e9168398406.jpg]useful[/url]. The reflecting regions confirm that northern [url=https://youtu.be/lr4r70DWShk]Titan[/url] houses a wide and complex array of seas with a geometry that [url=https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2014Icar..243..158H/abstract]indicates[/url] periods of significant evaporation. During its numerous passes of [url=https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/solar-system/our-solar-system/in-depth/]our Solar System[/url]'s most mysterious moon, Cassini has revealed [url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap190703.html]Titan[/url] to be a world with [url=https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/cassini/whycassini/cassini20130522.html]active weather[/url] -- including times when it rains a liquefied version of [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_gas]natural gas[/url].
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