土卫六北半球的夏天

2020 June 20

Northern Summer on Titan
Image Credit: Cassini Imaging Team, SSI, JPL, ESA, NASA

Explanation: Today’s solstice brings summer to planet Earth’s northern hemisphere. But the northern summer solstice arrived for ringed planet Saturn over three years ago on May 24, 2017. Orbiting the gas giant, Saturn’s moon Titan experiences the Saturnian seasons. Larger than inner planet Mercury, Titan was captured in this Cassini spacecraft image about two weeks after its northern summer began. The near-infrared view finds bright methane clouds drifting through Titan’s dense, hazy atmosphere as seen from a distance of about 507,000 kilometers. Below the clouds, dark hydrocarbon lakes sprawl near its fully illuminated north pole.

Tomorrow’s picture: Venus by moonlight

土卫六北半球的夏天
影像提供：Cassini Imaging Team, SSI, JPL, ESA, NASA

说明：明天的夏至将把夏天带到地球北半球，但对拥有行星环的土星而言，北半球的夏至降临在3年前的5月24日。而在绕行这颗气态巨行星的土卫六，也感受到土星的季节变化。这张呈现大于水星的土卫六的影像，是由卡西尼号太空船摄于土星夏季降临的2星期多之后。这张摄于约507，000公里之外的近红外光照片，记录了漂过土卫六致密雾霾天空的明亮甲烷云。在云层下方，可见到在阳光照耀的土卫六北极区，以及它附近广袤的暗色碳氢化合物湖泊。

明日的图片：Venus by moonlight