Astronomy Picture of the Day [1]Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2023 March 31 [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available. Seeing Titan Image Credit: [3]VIMS Team, [4]U. Arizona, [5]U. Nantes, [6]ESA, [7]NASA Explanation: Shrouded in a thick atmosphere, [8]Saturn's largest moon Titan really is hard to see. Small particles suspended in the upper atmosphere cause an almost impenetrable haze, strongly scattering light at visible wavelengths and hiding Titan's surface features from prying eyes. But Titan's [9]surface is better imaged at infrared wavelengths where scattering is weaker and atmospheric absorption is reduced. Arrayed around this visible light image (center) of Titan are some of the clearest global infrared views of the [10]tantalizing moon so far. In false color, [11]the six panels present a consistent processing of 13 years of infrared image data from the Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS) on board [12]the Cassini spacecraft orbiting Saturn from 2004 to 2017. They offer a stunning comparison with Cassini's visible light view. [13]NASA's revolutionary rotorcraft mission to Titan is due to launch in 2027. Tomorrow's picture: seriously __________________________________________________________________ [14]< | [15]Archive | [16]Submissions | [17]Index | [18]Search | [19]Calendar | [20]RSS | [21]Education | [22]About APOD | [23]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [24]Robert Nemiroff ([25]MTU) & [26]Jerry Bonnell ([27]UMCP) NASA Official: Phillip Newman [28]Specific rights apply. [29]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices A service of: [30]ASD at [31]NASA / [32]GSFC, [33]NASA Science Activation & [34]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2303/PIA21923_fig1SeeingTitan2400.jpg 3. http://wwwvims.lpl.arizona.edu/ 4. http://pirlwww.lpl.arizona.edu/ 5. http://www.univ-nantes.fr/ 6. http://www.esa.int/ 7. http://www.nasa.gov/ 8. https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/moons/saturn-moons/titan/in-depth/ 9. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap150116.html 10. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap140919.html 11. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA21923 12. https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/missions/cassini/overview/ 13. https://www.nasa.gov/dragonfly 14. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap230330.html 15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 16. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 18. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss 21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 23. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=230331>Discuss|