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Titan image from Cassini two days from flyby (Oct. 23); flyby T-17 hours
SpaceRef ^ | 10/25/2004 | JPL

Posted on 10/25/2004 9:32:25 AM PDT by cogitator

Cassini-Huygens home page


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Extended News; Government; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: atmosphere; cassini; moon; ringworld; saturn; titan
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If we ever run out of natural gas, Titan has plenty of methane. The tanker run is a bit looong, though.
1 posted on 10/25/2004 9:32:27 AM PDT by cogitator
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To: cogitator

It's big, it's gaseous, it's single band.


2 posted on 10/25/2004 9:34:43 AM PDT by RightWhale (Withdraw from the 1967 UN Outer Space Treaty and establish property rights)
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To: cogitator

I understand that Kerry has a plan to solve that problem...


3 posted on 10/25/2004 9:34:53 AM PDT by DSBull (Liberal logic: the most mutually exclusive words in the universe!)
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To: RightWhale

Kerry is campaigning, there? How many EVs does Titan have?


4 posted on 10/25/2004 9:35:38 AM PDT by Constantine XIII
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To: RightWhale
It's big, it's gaseous, it's single band.

C'mon...we're talking about Titan, not Michael Moore.

; )

5 posted on 10/25/2004 9:36:34 AM PDT by Prime Choice (The Leftists think they can tax us into "prosperity" and regulate us into "liberty.")
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To: cogitator

Strange new worlds........


6 posted on 10/25/2004 9:36:50 AM PDT by Names Ash Housewares
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To: cogitator

Nice picture. Thanks! Maybe we'll see a shot more in focus in the coming days.


7 posted on 10/25/2004 9:38:32 AM PDT by nascartex
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To: Prime Choice

I thought it was Ted Kennedy being described.


8 posted on 10/25/2004 9:38:57 AM PDT by Laserman
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To: Prime Choice

Just playing with the fallacy of triple shifting referent.


9 posted on 10/25/2004 9:39:37 AM PDT by RightWhale (Withdraw from the 1967 UN Outer Space Treaty and establish property rights)
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To: nascartex

Difficult to focus on gas clouds!


10 posted on 10/25/2004 9:40:25 AM PDT by Robert A Cook PE (I can only donate monthly, but Kerry's ABBCNNBCBS continue to lie every day!)
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To: nascartex
Maybe we'll see a shot more in focus in the coming days.

That shot IS in focus! Titan's surface features are obscured/blurred by the atmosphere. And the surface might be even have hydrocarbon "oceans"; if so, this marks the first time that a satellite is viewing another celestial body with a surface that is partially covered by liquid.

11 posted on 10/25/2004 9:41:41 AM PDT by cogitator
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To: cogitator; PatrickHenry; RadioAstronomer

NASA TV coverage begins Oct. 26 at 6:30 p.m. (PST).

See you there.


12 posted on 10/25/2004 9:42:36 AM PDT by AdmSmith
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To: cogitator

Oh, then why do we get clear shots of the Earth?


13 posted on 10/25/2004 9:42:43 AM PDT by nascartex
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To: Robert A. Cook, PE
Difficult to focus on gas clouds!

They have to keep snapping pictures so they can try to distinguish between surface features (which would move around at a defined speed with the moon's rotation) as opposed to clouds, whose movement wouldn't be coupled to the rotation speed.

You probably know that, but others reading this thread might not.

14 posted on 10/25/2004 9:43:39 AM PDT by cogitator
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To: Laserman

Or Elizabeth Edwards


15 posted on 10/25/2004 9:43:46 AM PDT by spotbust1 (Gun control is when you use both hands.)
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To: cogitator
Wish it was color!

Looks like a big hot-house.

16 posted on 10/25/2004 9:44:28 AM PDT by Cold Heat (http://ice.he.net/~freepnet/kerry/staticpages/index.php?page=20040531140357545)
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To: AdmSmith

Given the timing of the flyby (and the transmission time between Saturn and Earth), I think I'm going to catch the morning news show coverage.


17 posted on 10/25/2004 9:44:45 AM PDT by cogitator
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To: nascartex
Oh, then why do we get clear shots of the Earth?

Good question -- the answer is that Earth's atmosphere is clearer than Titan's. From what astronomers/planetary scientists have figured out thus far about Titan, the atmosphere is partially composed of a liquid hydrocarbon, and other stuff like ammonia, "fog". The reason is that the moon is so cold that gases like methane and ethane are near their condensation point. It's not completely opaque, but it's pretty thick.

Titan, Saturn's Smog Moon

" Titan's thick cloudy atmosphere is mostly nitrogen, like Earth's, but contains much higher percentages of "smog-like" chemicals such as methane and ethane. The smog may be so thick that it actually rains "gasoline-like" liquids."

I.e., don't light a match!

18 posted on 10/25/2004 9:49:09 AM PDT by cogitator
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To: cogitator

Where are the sirens?


19 posted on 10/25/2004 9:53:37 AM PDT by MrBambaLaMamba (Buy 'Allah' brand urinal cakes - If you can't kill the enemy at least you can piss on their god)
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To: cogitator

NOTE: Nit-Picky Engineer Mode ON...

> The reason is that the moon is so cold that gases like methane and ethane are near their condensation point.

Actually... The reason that methane and ethane are near their condensation point is because the moon is so cold.

>I.e., don't light a match!

Light a match all you want. Titan has little to no free oxygen, thus, there'd be no combustion.


20 posted on 10/25/2004 9:56:03 AM PDT by orionblamblam
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