NASA Scientists Delve Into The Mystery Of Titan’s Disappearing Clouds
- 7 years ago
NASA scientists are delving into the mystery of Titan’s disappearing clouds.
NASA scientists are delving into the mystery of Titan’s disappearing clouds.
The discrepancy in the presence of the formations was noticed in two images taken by the Cassini spacecraft.
While the timing of the pictures suggested the clouds should be present on both occasions, they were not.
NASA notes that in, “a near-infrared image from Cassini's imaging cameras, the skies above Saturn's moon Titan look relatively cloud free.”
Yet, “at longer infrared wavelengths, Cassini sees a large field of bright clouds. Even though these views were taken at different wavelengths, researchers would expect at least a hint of the clouds to show up in the upper image. Thus they have been trying to understand what's behind the difference.”
Though the investigation is ongoing, NASA suggests, “The answer to what could be causing the discrepancy appears to lie with Titan's hazy atmosphere, which is much easier to see through at the longer infrared wavelengths…than at the shorter, near-infrared wavelength...”
The oddity hasn’t been observed since, but, according to NASA, “Cassini has several more opportunities to observe Titan over the last months of the mission in 2017, and scientists will be watching to see if and how the weather changes.”
NASA scientists are delving into the mystery of Titan’s disappearing clouds.
The discrepancy in the presence of the formations was noticed in two images taken by the Cassini spacecraft.
While the timing of the pictures suggested the clouds should be present on both occasions, they were not.
NASA notes that in, “a near-infrared image from Cassini's imaging cameras, the skies above Saturn's moon Titan look relatively cloud free.”
Yet, “at longer infrared wavelengths, Cassini sees a large field of bright clouds. Even though these views were taken at different wavelengths, researchers would expect at least a hint of the clouds to show up in the upper image. Thus they have been trying to understand what's behind the difference.”
Though the investigation is ongoing, NASA suggests, “The answer to what could be causing the discrepancy appears to lie with Titan's hazy atmosphere, which is much easier to see through at the longer infrared wavelengths…than at the shorter, near-infrared wavelength...”
The oddity hasn’t been observed since, but, according to NASA, “Cassini has several more opportunities to observe Titan over the last months of the mission in 2017, and scientists will be watching to see if and how the weather changes.”