APOD: Titan: Moon over Saturn (2021 Jan 09)

Comments and questions about the APOD on the main view screen.
Post Reply
User avatar
APOD Robot
Otto Posterman
Posts: 5344
Joined: Fri Dec 04, 2009 3:27 am
Contact:

APOD: Titan: Moon over Saturn (2021 Jan 09)

Post by APOD Robot » Sat Jan 09, 2021 5:05 am

Image Titan: Moon over Saturn

Explanation: Like Earth's moon, Saturn's largest moon Titan is locked in synchronous rotation. This mosaic of images recorded by the Cassini spacecraft in May of 2012 shows its anti-Saturn side, the side always facing away from the ringed gas giant. The only moon in the solar system with a dense atmosphere, Titan is the only solar system world besides Earth known to have standing bodies of liquid on its surface and an earthlike cycle of liquid rain and evaporation. Its high altitude layer of atmospheric haze is evident in the Cassini view of the 5,000 kilometer diameter moon over Saturn's rings and cloud tops. Near center is the dark dune-filled region known as Shangri-La. The Cassini-delivered Huygens probe rests below and left of center, after the most distant landing for a spacecraft from Earth.

<< Previous APOD This Day in APOD Next APOD >>

heehaw

Re: APOD: Titan: Moon over Saturn (2021 Jan 09)

Post by heehaw » Sat Jan 09, 2021 10:48 am

Wonderful!

User avatar
orin stepanek
Plutopian
Posts: 8200
Joined: Wed Jul 27, 2005 3:41 pm
Location: Nebraska

Re: APOD: Titan: Moon over Saturn (2021 Jan 09)

Post by orin stepanek » Sat Jan 09, 2021 1:52 pm

https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/moons/satu ... /in-depth/ This is neat

PIA19642Titan1024.jpg

Kinda blurry; but Titan is pretty much cloud covered anyway!🪐 I
think it would be an interesting place to visit! 8-)
You can see Titan's atmosphere on the photo; maybe that's what
gives the blurry look !?
Orin

Smile today; tomorrow's another day!

Jd3

Re: APOD: Titan: Moon over Saturn (2021 Jan 09)

Post by Jd3 » Sat Jan 09, 2021 3:02 pm

NASA is using the same photography equipment that captures all the Bigfoot images.

User avatar
Chris Peterson
Abominable Snowman
Posts: 18111
Joined: Wed Jan 31, 2007 11:13 pm
Location: Guffey, Colorado, USA
Contact:

Re: APOD: Titan: Moon over Saturn (2021 Jan 09)

Post by Chris Peterson » Sat Jan 09, 2021 3:14 pm

orin stepanek wrote: Sat Jan 09, 2021 1:52 pm Kinda blurry; but Titan is pretty much cloud covered anyway!🪐 I
think it would be an interesting place to visit! 8-)
You can see Titan's atmosphere on the photo; maybe that's what
gives the blurry look !?
I don't think this image is blurry in any optical sense. That is, we're seeing a properly focused image. The apparent fuzziness is real, and caused by the atmosphere, as you suggest. We are used to seeing essentially airless worlds, with their crisp edges. Add an atmosphere, and this is what happens.
Chris

*****************************************
Chris L Peterson
Cloudbait Observatory
https://www.cloudbait.com

User avatar
johnnydeep
Commodore
Posts: 2780
Joined: Sun Feb 20, 2011 8:57 pm

Re: APOD: Titan: Moon over Saturn (2021 Jan 09)

Post by johnnydeep » Sat Jan 09, 2021 5:03 pm

Chris Peterson wrote: Sat Jan 09, 2021 3:14 pm
orin stepanek wrote: Sat Jan 09, 2021 1:52 pm Kinda blurry; but Titan is pretty much cloud covered anyway!🪐 I
think it would be an interesting place to visit! 8-)
You can see Titan's atmosphere on the photo; maybe that's what
gives the blurry look !?
I don't think this image is blurry in any optical sense. That is, we're seeing a properly focused image. The apparent fuzziness is real, and caused by the atmosphere, as you suggest. We are used to seeing essentially airless worlds, with their crisp edges. Add an atmosphere, and this is what happens.
Hmm. This pic of earth from space looks a lot clearer, though it does still have a slightly fuzzy/blurry edge:

Pic of Earth From Apollo 17
Pic of Earth From Apollo 17

Full pic from the one at https://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagega ... e_329.html
The Apollo 17 crew -- astronaut Eugene A. Cernan, commander; astronaut Ronald E. Evans, command module pilot; and scientist-astronaut Harrison H. Schmitt, lunar module pilot -- caught this breathtaking view of our home planet as they were traveling to the moon on Dec. 7, 1972. It's the first time astronauts were able to photograph the South polar ice cap. Nearly the entire coastline of Africa is clearly visible, along with the Arabian Peninsula.
So, how do we explain the difference? Optical equipment? Does Titan have a thicker, more dirty atmosphere?
--
"To B̬̻̋̚o̞̮̚̚l̘̲̀᷾d̫͓᷅ͩḷ̯᷁ͮȳ͙᷊͠ Go......Beyond The F͇̤i̙̖e̤̟l̡͓d͈̹s̙͚ We Know."{ʲₒʰₙNYᵈₑᵉₚ}

User avatar
Chris Peterson
Abominable Snowman
Posts: 18111
Joined: Wed Jan 31, 2007 11:13 pm
Location: Guffey, Colorado, USA
Contact:

Re: APOD: Titan: Moon over Saturn (2021 Jan 09)

Post by Chris Peterson » Sat Jan 09, 2021 5:29 pm

johnnydeep wrote: Sat Jan 09, 2021 5:03 pm
Chris Peterson wrote: Sat Jan 09, 2021 3:14 pm
orin stepanek wrote: Sat Jan 09, 2021 1:52 pm Kinda blurry; but Titan is pretty much cloud covered anyway!🪐 I
think it would be an interesting place to visit! 8-)
You can see Titan's atmosphere on the photo; maybe that's what
gives the blurry look !?
I don't think this image is blurry in any optical sense. That is, we're seeing a properly focused image. The apparent fuzziness is real, and caused by the atmosphere, as you suggest. We are used to seeing essentially airless worlds, with their crisp edges. Add an atmosphere, and this is what happens.
Hmm. This pic of earth from space looks a lot clearer, though it does still have a slightly fuzzy/blurry edge:


apollo 17 earth from space.JPG


Full pic from the one at https://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagega ... e_329.html
The Apollo 17 crew -- astronaut Eugene A. Cernan, commander; astronaut Ronald E. Evans, command module pilot; and scientist-astronaut Harrison H. Schmitt, lunar module pilot -- caught this breathtaking view of our home planet as they were traveling to the moon on Dec. 7, 1972. It's the first time astronauts were able to photograph the South polar ice cap. Nearly the entire coastline of Africa is clearly visible, along with the Arabian Peninsula.
So, how do we explain the difference? Optical equipment? Does Titan have a thicker, more dirty atmosphere?
Yes. Images of Earth from space certainly show a less sharp edge than we see for the Moon. The nature of the atmosphere matters. Not just the density, but the sort of density gradient that is formed.
Chris

*****************************************
Chris L Peterson
Cloudbait Observatory
https://www.cloudbait.com

User avatar
neufer
Vacationer at Tralfamadore
Posts: 18805
Joined: Mon Jan 21, 2008 1:57 pm
Location: Alexandria, Virginia

In Xandu did Cublai Can

Post by neufer » Sat Jan 09, 2021 10:51 pm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shangdu#Samuel_Purchas_(1625) wrote:
<<In 1614, the English clergyman Samuel Purchas published Purchas his Pilgrimes – or Relations of the world and the Religions observed in all ages and places discovered, from the Creation unto this Present. This book contained a brief description of Shangdu, based on the early description of Marco Polo:
  • "In Xandu did Cublai Can build a stately Pallace, encompassing sixteen miles of plaine ground with a wall, wherein are fertile Meddowes, pleasant Springs, delightfull streames, and all sorts of beasts of chase and game, and in the middest thereof a sumpuous house of pleasure, which may be moved from place to place."
>>
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xanadu_(Titan) wrote:


:arrow: <<A mosaic of nine processed images acquired during Cassini's first very close flyby of Saturn's moon Titan on Oct. 26, 2004, constitutes the most detailed full-disc view of the mysterious moon. The view is centered on 15 degrees South latitude, and 156 degrees West longitude. Brightness variations across the surface and bright clouds near the south pole are easily seen. The images that comprise the mosaic have been processed to reduce the effects of the atmosphere and to sharpen surface features. The mosaic has been trimmed to show only the illuminated surface and not the atmosphere above the edge of the moon. The Sun was behind Cassini so nearly the full disc is illuminated. Pixels scales of the composite images vary from 2 to 4 kilometers per pixel. Surface features are best seen near the center of the disc, where the spacecraft is looking directly downwards; the contrast becomes progressively lower and surface features become fuzzier towards the outside, where the spacecraft is peering through haze, a circumstance that washes out surface features. The brighter region on the right side and equatorial region is named Xanadu Regio. Scientists are actively debating what processes may have created the bizarre surface brightness patterns seen here. The images hint at a young surface with no obvious craters. However, the exact nature of that activity, whether tectonic, wind-blown, fluvial, marine, or volcanic is still to be determined. The images comprising this mosaic were acquired from distances ranging from 650,000 kilometers to 300,000 kilometers.>>
Art Neuendorffer

User avatar
orin stepanek
Plutopian
Posts: 8200
Joined: Wed Jul 27, 2005 3:41 pm
Location: Nebraska

Re: APOD: Titan: Moon over Saturn (2021 Jan 09)

Post by orin stepanek » Sat Jan 09, 2021 10:58 pm

Chris Peterson wrote: Sat Jan 09, 2021 5:29 pm
johnnydeep wrote: Sat Jan 09, 2021 5:03 pm
Chris Peterson wrote: Sat Jan 09, 2021 3:14 pm

I don't think this image is blurry in any optical sense. That is, we're seeing a properly focused image. The apparent fuzziness is real, and caused by the atmosphere, as you suggest. We are used to seeing essentially airless worlds, with their crisp edges. Add an atmosphere, and this is what happens.
Hmm. This pic of earth from space looks a lot clearer, though it does still have a slightly fuzzy/blurry edge:


apollo 17 earth from space.JPG


Full pic from the one at https://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagega ... e_329.html
The Apollo 17 crew -- astronaut Eugene A. Cernan, commander; astronaut Ronald E. Evans, command module pilot; and scientist-astronaut Harrison H. Schmitt, lunar module pilot -- caught this breathtaking view of our home planet as they were traveling to the moon on Dec. 7, 1972. It's the first time astronauts were able to photograph the South polar ice cap. Nearly the entire coastline of Africa is clearly visible, along with the Arabian Peninsula.
So, how do we explain the difference? Optical equipment? Does Titan have a thicker, more dirty atmosphere?
Yes. Images of Earth from space certainly show a less sharp edge than we see for the Moon. The nature of the atmosphere matters. Not just the density, but the sort of density gradient that is formed.
I agree with your assessment of Titan! also the Earth collects moor sunlight; which I believe gives it a clearer picture than Titan! But again; my opinion!
Orin

Smile today; tomorrow's another day!

User avatar
neufer
Vacationer at Tralfamadore
Posts: 18805
Joined: Mon Jan 21, 2008 1:57 pm
Location: Alexandria, Virginia

The Earth collects moop sunlight

Post by neufer » Sun Jan 10, 2021 4:07 pm

Click to play embedded YouTube video.
orin stepanek wrote: Sat Jan 09, 2021 10:58 pm
Chris Peterson wrote: Sat Jan 09, 2021 5:29 pm
Images of Earth from space certainly show a less sharp edge than we see for the Moon. The nature of the atmosphere matters. Not just the density, but the sort of density gradient that is formed.
I agree with your assessment of Titan!

also the Earth collects moor sunlight;

which I believe gives it a clearer picture than Titan!
Art Neuendorffer

User avatar
orin stepanek
Plutopian
Posts: 8200
Joined: Wed Jul 27, 2005 3:41 pm
Location: Nebraska

Re: The Earth collects moop sunlight

Post by orin stepanek » Mon Jan 11, 2021 1:29 am

neufer wrote: Sun Jan 10, 2021 4:07 pm
Click to play embedded YouTube video.
orin stepanek wrote: Sat Jan 09, 2021 10:58 pm
Chris Peterson wrote: Sat Jan 09, 2021 5:29 pm
Images of Earth from space certainly show a less sharp edge than we see for the Moon. The nature of the atmosphere matters. Not just the density, but the sort of density gradient that is formed.
I agree with your assessment of Titan!

also the Earth collects moor sunlight;

which I believe gives it a clearer picture than Titan!
:lol2: moops! 8-)
I see I did misspell more! :roll:
Orin

Smile today; tomorrow's another day!

User avatar
neufer
Vacationer at Tralfamadore
Posts: 18805
Joined: Mon Jan 21, 2008 1:57 pm
Location: Alexandria, Virginia

Re: APOD: Titan: Moon over Saturn (2021 Jan 09)

Post by neufer » Tue Feb 16, 2021 1:15 am

Click to play embedded YouTube video.
Art Neuendorffer

Post Reply