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Cassini Observes Sunsets on Titan (Artist’s Rendering)

Artist’s rendering of NASA’s Cassini spacecraft
Artist’s rendering of NASA’s Cassini spacecraft observing a sunset through Titan’s hazy atmosphere.Using data collected by Cassini’s Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer, or VIMS, while observing Titan’s sunsets, researchers created simulated spectra of Titan as if it were a planet transiting the face of a distant star.

Artist’s rendering of NASA’s Cassini spacecraft observing a sunset through Titan’s hazy atmosphere.

Using data collected by Cassini’s Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer, or VIMS, while observing Titan’s sunsets, researchers created simulated spectra of Titan as if it were a planet transiting across the face of a distant star. The research helps scientists to better understand observations of exoplanets with hazy atmospheres.

The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. JPL manages the mission for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, Washington. The California Institute of Technology in Pasadena manages JPL for NASA. The VIMS team is based at the University of Arizona in Tucson.

For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit https://www.nasa.gov/cassini and http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov.

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech