Fact Sheet
Titanic Preview
Several bright features stand out in this infrared image of Titan, the largest moon of Saturn, snapped by the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope in Chile. Astronomers cannot see Titan's surface directly because a cold, hazy atmosphere envelopes the big moon. Infrared energy from Titan's surface penetrates the clouds. These images, projected onto a globe, show bright features in one hemisphere of Titan. The right image shows a possible atmospheric feature near Titan's south pole. The Cassini spacecraft will use radar to penetrate Titan's clouds after it enters orbit around Saturn July 1. Early next year, it will drop the Huygens probe into Titan's atmosphere to provide direct views of the icy moon. [Credit: ESO/VLT]
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