The Double Haze above Titan
Explanation:
Most moons have no haze layer at all - why does Titan have two?
Images from the
Cassini spacecraft that
slipped into orbit around
Saturn
last month confirm that the Solar System's
most mysterious moon is surrounded
not only by a thick atmosphere but also by
two distinct spheres of
haze.
These layers are
visible
as purple in the above false-color ultraviolet image.
Titan's opaque atmosphere is similar to
Earth's atmosphere in that it is composed mostly of
nitrogen.
As energetic sunlight strikes high level atmospheric nitrogen and
methane, trace amounts of
organic compounds such as
ethane and
carbon dioxide appear
to form.
These and other
complex organic molecules likely populate the
detached haze layer.
In December 2004, Cassini will
launch the Huygens probe to land on
Titan.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
