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Titan
Titan as seen from Cassini.
Titan as seen from Cassini.
Diameter 5,150 km
3,200 mi.
Distance from primary 1221,850 km
759,222 mi.

Titan is the largest major satellite of Saturn and the only satellite in the solar system with a thick atmosphere. It is the second largest satellite. Although similar in bulk properties to Ganymede and Callisto, Titan's thick nitrogen and methane atmosphere clearly indicates that it is fundamentally different. The atmospheric pressure at the surface of Titan is roughly 1.5 times as high as that on the Earth. Some have proposed that a methane or ethane rain falls from the skies of Titan, possibly forming lakes or oceans.[1]

Huygens[]

Huygens descent

Landing on Titan from Cassini-Huygens.

The European Space Agency's (ESA's) Huygens probe, carried to Saturn by the Cassini spacecraft, parachuted to the surface of Saturn's giant moon Titan on Friday, Jan. 14th, revealing finally what lies beneath Titan's thick orange clouds.

The orange landscape around the Huygens landing site is littered with little rocks, rounded and smooth like river-rocks on Earth.

References[]

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