Sky's Up Global Astronomy Magazine Volume III (September 2021) | Page 16

wonderful universe

wonderful universe

COURTESY OF NASA / JPL-Caltech / Space Science Institute
Above left , Figure 12 – Saturn ’ s moon Enceladus reflects sunlight brightly while the planet and its rings fill the background of this Cassini view . Enceladus is one of the most reflective bodies in the solar system because it is constantly coated by fresh , white ice particles . This view looks toward the anti-Saturn side of Enceladus ( 504 kilometers , or 313 miles across ). North on Enceladus is up . The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Dec . 21 , 2010 . The view was obtained at a distance of approximately 102,000 kilometers ( 63,000 miles ) from Enceladus . Above right , Figure 13 – Titan ’ s atmosphere makes Saturn ’ s largest moon look like a fuzzy orange ball in this natural color view from the Cassini spacecraft . Titan ’ s north polar hood is visible at the top of the image , and a faint blue haze also can be detected above the south pole at the bottom of this view . Images taken using red , green and blue spectral filters were combined to create this natural color view . The images were obtained with the Cassini spacecraft wide-angle camera on Jan . 30 , 2012 , at a distance of approximately 119,000 miles ( 191,000 kilometers ) from Titan . Right , Figure 14 - The existence of oceans or lakes of liquid methane on Saturn ’ s moon Titan was predicted many years ago . But with a dense haze preventing a closer look it has not been possible to confirm their presence . Until the Cassini flyby of July 22 , 2006 , that is . Radar imaging data from the flyby provide convincing evidence for large bodies of liquid . The lakes , darker than the surrounding terrain , are emphasized here by tinting regions of low backscatter in blue . Radar-brighter regions are shown in tan . The strip of radar imagery is foreshortened to simulate an oblique view of the highest latitude region , seen from a point to its west . This radar image was acquired by the Cassini radar instrument in synthetic aperture mode on July 22 , 2006 .
COURTESY OF NASA / JPL-Caltech / Space Science Institute
COURTESY OF NASA / JPL-Caltech / USGS
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