APOD: 2022 May 27 - Titan: Moon over Saturn

Good Red Friday morning, Rallypoint, and welcome to the May 27th edition of Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD): "Titan: Moon over Saturn." Why are NASA scientists interested in Titan? Here are a few of the reasons: 1) it is the only moon in our Solar System with an atmosphere, 2) its atmosphere is mostly nitrogen (like Earth), 3) it has lakes, rivers, and seas on its surface (again, like Earth), and 4) water is believed to be present.

So it likely won't surprise you to recall that NASA is headed back to Titan in 2027. The last visitor to Titan (and Saturn) was the Cassini spacecraft (1997-2017). Cassini deployed the Huygens lander to the surface of Titan in 2005. The next visitor, Dragonfly, is scheduled to arrive on Titan in 2034.

Back to today's APOD. LIke our own Moon, Titan orbits Saturn in 'synchronous' rotation (the same side of the moon always faces the planet). This composite view of Titan was created using a series of images captured by Cassini as it passed by. You can see the rings of Saturn in the background. Wonder what Dragonfly will find when it gets there....