Fact Sheet
Titanic Color
The surface of Saturn's moon Titan glows yellow-orange in this photo from the Huygens probe, which landed on January 14. The probe drifted through Titan's thick atmosphere for about two and a half hours before touchdown, photographing a landscape that looks much like Mars or even Earth, with possible drainage channels carved into a hillside. This first color image released by the European Space Agency, which built and operated the probe, shows pebbles only a few inches in diameter scattered across the surface. Other instruments indicated that a thin crust of ice seems to coat the surface. Scientists are still analyzing the pictures to see if any of those snapped during descent show bodies of liquid standing on Titan's surface. [Credit: ESA/NASA/Univ. Arizona]
|