James Webb can probe Titan's atmosphere in 'ways even the Cassini spacecraft could not.'
Saturn's largest moon, Titan, is the target of an upcoming NASA mission to search for alien life among its thick atmosphere and rivers, lakes, and oceans of liquid methane.
Those missions won't reach Titan until the 2030s, but scientists have eagerly awaited the first James Webb Space Telescope observations of the distant moon.That time has come with the Webb team revealing observations of two large methane clouds in Titan's atmosphere, taken on November 4, as per aScientists have long targeted Titan for observations because it is home to a surprisingly Earth-like surface of rivers, lakes, and seas.
NASA's Cassini mission arrived at Saturn in 2004 and provided an unprecedented view of Saturn and Titan. However, from its deep space location in Lagrange Point 2, Webb is able to "probe the composition and surface of [Titan] in ways even the Cassini spacecraft could not," NASAThe James Webb observatory spent a total of 15 hours observing Titan. The observations were organized by Conor Nixon, an astronomer at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland.
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James Webb Space Telescope view of Saturn's weirdest moon Titan thrills scientistsMeghan is a senior writer at Space.com and has more than five years' experience as a science journalist based in New York City. She joined Space.com in July 2018, with previous writing published in outlets including Newsweek and Audubon. Meghan earned an MA in science journalism from New York University and a BA in classics from Georgetown University, and in her free time she enjoys reading and visiting museums. Follow her on Twitter at meghanbartels.
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