Being the only moon in the solar system with an atmosphere, Titan, Saturn’s largest moon, is nearly impenetrable to observation from Earth.
Its color scheme of greenish blue is reminiscent of Earth’s, and it is the only other site in our region of the galaxy where we have evidence of churning oceans and spectacular clouds.
Saturn’s Largest Moon: Titan
Addtionally, Titan is a little out of the ordinary; it’s like Earth but in a parallel universe. All its water bodies, including the sky, oceans, rivers, and lakes, are dry. Methane and ethane are the main components.
On November 5th, scientists got their hands on some of the first James Webb Space Telescope photos of Titan.
Webb’s primary imaging device, NIRCam, can detect infrared light. Therefore, it used that to take the pictures. Two clouds in the northern hemisphere were visible in Webb’s vision; these are indicated by labels in the image above. Clouds have been expected to appear on Titan based on past observations.
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Titan’s Atmosphere
Moroever, NASA warns that until this work has been examined by other scientists, it should be considered preliminary. The Keck telescope in Hawaii, a land-based observatory, performed a follow-up study to better understand the clouds’ possible motion and shape transformation.
On the sixth of November, two days after the telescope was used, people could observe clouds. It could be clearer if these are the same clouds that have morphed or if these are whole different formations. It is thought that the clouds on Titan form and disperse quickly.
Meanwhile, you won’t be seeing the last of Webb just yet. Insights from the MIRI instrument are expected to be given in mid-2023. Since no studies of Titan have been done at the infrared wavelengths used by MIRI, this is very encouraging news, as these observations should reveal previously unknown information about Titan’s atmosphere.
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