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Using the Weber Space Telescope for "X-ray perspective", scientists found clouds in the north pole of Titan.

Shulou Source: shulou.com Published: 2023-11-24 13:10:06 10月02日 Update

CTOnews.com December 2-The James Webb Space Telescope spotted clouds on Titan. The space observatory began scientific observations of Titan in November. Titan is the only moon in the solar system with a dense atmosphere, four times denser than Earth.

Titan's atmosphere is composed of nitrogen and methane, so it will have a fuzzy orange appearance in the final image. Thick fog obscures visible light reflected from Titan's surface, making it difficult to discern its features.

The Webb Space Telescope used infrared light to observe Titan on November 5 and detected a bright cloud in Titan's northern hemisphere, and a second cloud in the atmosphere shortly after. The larger cloud is located in Titan's Arctic region near Kraken Mare, the largest known sea of liquid methane on the moon's surface.

CTOnews.com learned that Webb's instruments captured these views of Titan. Clouds and other features were noted, including a methane sea called Kraken Mare, sand dunes at Belet and a bright spot called Adiri.

In NASA's Webb blog, planetary scientist Conor Nixon from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, wrote:

The cloud detection was exciting because it confirmed computer models 'long-term predictions of Titan's climate that clouds would easily form in the moon's northern hemisphere after it was heated by the sun in late summer.

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