Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                                2020 June 20

                          Northern Summer on Titan
           Image Credit: Cassini Imaging Team, SSI, JPL, ESA, NASA

   Explanation: Today's solstice brings summer to planet Earth's northern
   hemisphere. But the northern summer solstice arrived for ringed planet
   Saturn over three years ago on May 24, 2017. Orbiting the gas giant,
   Saturn's moon Titan experiences the Saturnian seasons that are about 7
   Earth-years long. Larger than inner planet Mercury, Titan was captured
   in this Cassini spacecraft image about two weeks after its northern
   summer began. The near-infrared view finds bright methane clouds
   drifting through Titan's dense, hazy atmosphere as seen from a distance
   of about 507,000 kilometers. Below the clouds, dark hydrocarbon lakes
   sprawl near its fully illuminated north pole.

                   Tomorrow's picture: Venus by moonlight
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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                             & Michigan Tech. U.

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