Back to Glossary

Titan

Saturn's largest moon and the second-largest in the Solar System. Titan is unique for its dense nitrogen-rich atmosphere and the presence of liquid hydrocarbon lakes and rivers on its surface.

Source: science.nasa.gov

APODs including "Titan"

Cassini Approaches Saturn

15/03/2011

Video Credit: Cassini Imaging Team, ISS, JPL, ESA, NASA, S. Van Vuuren et al.; Music: Adagio for Strings (NY Philharmonic) / NASA APOD

What would it look like to approach Saturn in a spaceship? One doesn't have to just imagine -- the Cassini spacecraft did just this in 2004, recording thousands of images along the way, and thousands more since entering orbit. Recently, some of these images have been digitally tweaked, cropped, and compiled into the above inspiring video which is part of a larger developing IMAX movie project named Outside In. In the last sequence, Saturn looms increasingly large on approach as cloudy Titan swoops below. With Saturn whirling around in the background, Cassini is next depicted flying over Mimas, with large Herschel Crater clearly visible. Saturn's majestic rings then take over the show as Cassini crosses Saturn's thin ring plane. Dark shadows of the ring appear on Saturn itself. Finally, the enigmatic ice-geyser moon Enceladus appears in the distance and then is approached just as the video clip ends.