Titan's atmosphere is orange. The moon's thick atmosphere hides its surface.
Click on image for full size
Image courtesy NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute.
Titan
Titan is a moon of the planet Saturn. It is Saturn's largest
moon. Titan is
the second largest moon in the whole Solar
System. It is larger than Earth's
moon. It is even larger than two planets - Mercury and Pluto!
Titan has an atmosphere. Most moons don't. Titan's
atmosphere is much thicker
than the atmosphere of any other moon. It is even thicker than Earth's
atmosphere.
The air on Titan is orange! We can't see through Titan's air, so we don't
know much about the surface
of Titan. We are starting to find out a little about Titan's surface, though.
A robot spaceship named Huygens landed
on Titan in January 2005. Huygens took some pictures of Titan's surface. Another
robot spaceship, named Cassini, is taking
pictures of Titan from space. It found lakes of liquid methane (natural gas) near the North and South Poles of Titan. Cassini also spotted clouds in Titan's atmosphere.
Some scientists think there is a tiny chance that life exists
on Titan. Other scientists think that Titan is too cold for life. Titan
is mostly made
of ice. The moon has a strange
history.
Titan was discovered by a Dutch astronomer named Christiaan
Huygens. Huygens discovered Titan in 1655.
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