IMAGES AND CAPTION TEXT COURTESY OF NASA / JPL / Space Science Institute
These three views of Titan from the Cassini spacecraft illustrate how different the same place can look in different wavelengths of light . The first image shows approximately what Titan would look like to the human eye . The second , monochrome view shows what Titan looks like at 938 nanometers , a near-infrared wavelength that allowed Cassini to see through the hazy atmosphere and down to the surface . The third view , which is a false-color composite , was created by combining two infrared images with a visible light image . Green represents areas where Cassini is able to see down to the surface . Red represents areas high in Titan ’ s stratosphere where atmospheric methane is absorbing sunlight .
Titanic potential
Saturn moon is a tantalizing target for future exploration
IMAGES AND CAPTION TEXT COURTESY OF NASA / JPL-Caltech / ASI / Cornell
Ligeia Mare , shown here in a false-color image from NASA ’ s Cassini mission , is the second largest known body of liquid on Saturn ’ s moon Titan . It is filled with liquid hydrocarbons , such as ethane and methane . In this color scheme , liquids appear black and the solid surface of Titan appears yellow .
By ANA CATARINA ÁVILA VITORINO
Guest Contributor
In post-Space Shuttle years , space exploration is becoming a private endeavor . Elon Musk , Jeff Bezos and other billionaires have all made the colonization of the solar system their next endeavor for the development of mankind , considering the ongoing environmental catastrophe . As of now , their efforts seem to be concentrated near Earth ’ s orbit , such as sending people out to Mars or mining the Moon and asteroids . However , other bodies of the solar system , beyond the Martian orbit , could house life and have immense potential for human exploration , and deserve further attention in this new age of astronomy and astronautics . A major one is the widely studied moon Titan of Saturn , of which we have learned much
18