M106: A Spiral Galaxy With A Strange Center : Whats Happening At The Center Of Spiral Galaxy M106? A

Serene Saturn by Ian Regan (rotated for Tumblr viewing)

Taken by the Cassini spacecraft on October 28, Regan combined 21 total images (7 each for red, blue, and green filters) to create this mindblowing mosaic.

View the whole image and a little behind-the-scenes look on how this mosaic was made here.

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The Moon of Lakes and Rivers - Saturn’s moon Titan

Saturn’s moon Titan is the only world - other than earth - that we know has liquid’s pooled on its surface. Unlike Earth, Titan has lakes of liquid methane - you wouldn’t want to swim in these lakes.

Titan’s “methane cycle” is analogy to Earth’s water cycle. In the 3rd and 4th images above we can see clouds of methane in Titan’s atmosphere. Ever since NASA’s Voyager 1 spacecraft, we have known that the gases that make up Titan’s brown colored haze were hydrocarbons. The atmosphere of Titan is largely nitrogen; minor components lead to the formation of methane–ethane clouds and nitrogen-rich organic smog.

It is thanks to the Cassini spacecraft that we now understand more about the climate of Titan - though we still understand very little!

The Cassini Space craft has mapped most of the Northern polar region of Titan, this is the region that contains almost all of Titan’s lakes. Cassini is systematically sweeping across Titan and mapping the surface of this strange alien world. The image below is an example of Cassini’s mapping process:

Credit: NASA/JPL/Cassini

The Wizard Nebula by Steve Furlong

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