泰坦海洋反射阳光
(原标题: Titan Seas Reflect Sunlight)
2022-03-27
浏览次数: 24
为什么土卫六的表面会发出眩目的闪光？原因是：液体海洋的阳光。土星的卫星土卫六上有许多光滑的甲烷湖，当角度合适时，它们像镜子一样反射阳光。这张照片是假彩色的，卡西尼号宇宙飞船从2004年到2017年绕土星运行，在2014年用不同的穿云红外光波段拍摄了被云层覆盖的土卫六。这种镜面反射是如此明亮，以至于卡西尼号上的一台红外摄像机都被它浸透了。虽然日光反射很烦人，但它也很有用。反射区域证实了土卫六北部拥有广阔而复杂的海洋阵列，其几何形状表明了大量蒸发的时期。在多次飞越太阳系最神秘的卫星时，卡西尼号揭示了土卫六是一个天气活跃的世界——包括它下液化天然气雨的时候。
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Why would the surface of Titan light up with a blinding flash? The reason: a sunglint from liquid seas. Saturn's moon Titan has numerous smooth lakes of methane that, when the angle is right, reflect sunlight as if they were mirrors. Pictured here in false-color, the robotic Cassini spacecraft that orbited Saturn from 2004 to 2017 imaged the cloud-covered Titan in 2014 in different bands of cloud-piercing infrared light. This specular reflection was so bright it saturated one of Cassini's infrared cameras. Although the sunglint was annoying -- it was also useful. The reflecting regions confirm that northern Titan houses a wide and complex array of seas with a geometry that indicates periods of significant evaporation. During its numerous passes of our Solar System's most mysterious moon, Cassini has revealed Titan to be a world with active weather -- including times when it rains a liquefied version of natural gas.