看泰坦
(原标题: Seeing Titan)
2023-03-31
浏览次数: 16
在厚厚的大气层中，土星最大的卫星土卫六真的很难被看到。悬浮在高层大气中的小颗粒造成了几乎无法穿透的雾霾，强烈散射可见光波长的光，使土卫六的表面特征无法被窥探。但土卫六表面的红外成像效果更好，因为红外波段的散射更弱，大气吸收也减少了。这张泰坦的可见光图像（中间）周围是迄今为止这颗诱人的卫星最清晰的全球红外图像。这6块面板以假色呈现了对卡西尼号航天器上的视觉和红外测绘光谱仪（VIMS）从2004年到2017年对13年红外图像数据的一致处理。它们与卡西尼号的可见光图像形成了惊人的对比。美国宇航局前往土卫六的革命性旋翼飞行器将于2027年发射。
查看原文解释
Shrouded in a thick atmosphere, 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 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 tantalizing moon so far. In false color, the six panels present a consistent processing of 13 years of infrared image data from the Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS) on board the Cassini spacecraft orbiting Saturn from 2004 to 2017. They offer a stunning comparison with Cassini's visible light view. NASA's revolutionary rotorcraft mission to Titan is due to launch in 2027.