Huygens Images Titan's Surface

Astronomy Picture of the Day · 2005-01-15 · NASA (public domain)

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Huygens Images Titan's Surface — APOD for 2005-01-15

After a seven year interplanetary voyage on board the the Cassini spacecraft, the European Space Agency's Huygens probe parachuted to a historic landing on Saturn's moon Titan on January 14. Above are two of the first raw images Huygens recorded of the mystery moon's surface - a view from an altitude of 16 kilometers (left), and surface level . The altitude image resolves features as small as about 40 meters. In the dramatic surface level vista , the light toned rock-like object below and left of center is only about 15 centimeters across and lies 85 centimeters from the probe. Remarkably, the views of Titan's surface suggest a similarity to eroded surfaces on Earth and Mars. News: Huygens Updates

Astronomy Picture of the Day for 2005-01-15 — image & explanation courtesy of NASA (public domain), mirrored at Tukuk-OS for reading and search convenience.

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