Astronomy Picture of the Day

   [1]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.

                               2025 January 19

         IFRAME: [2]https://www.youtube.com/embed/msiLWxDayuA?rel=0

                   Titan Touchdown: Huygens Descent Movie
   Video Credit: [3]ESA, [4]NASA, [5]JPL, [6]U. Arizona, [7]E. Karkoschka

   Explanation: What would it look like to land on Saturn's moon Titan?
   The [8]European Space Agency's Huygens probe set down on the Solar
   System's cloudiest moon in 2005, and a [9]time-lapse video of its
   descent images was created. [10]Huygens separated from the robotic
   [11]Cassini spacecraft soon after it achieved orbit around Saturn in
   late 2004 and began approaching [12]Titan. For two hours after
   arriving, Huygens plummeted toward [13]Titan's surface, recording at
   first only the shrouded moon's opaque atmosphere. The computerized
   [14]truck-tire sized probe soon deployed a parachute to slow its
   descent, pierced the thick clouds, and began transmitting images of a
   [15]strange surface far below [16]never before seen in [17]visible
   light. Landing in a [18]dried sea and [19]surviving for 90 minutes,
   Huygen's returned unique images of a [20]strange plain of dark sandy
   soil strewn with smooth, bright, fist-sized rocks of ice.

                       Tomorrow's picture: high north
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    Authors & editors: [32]Robert Nemiroff ([33]MTU) & [34]Jerry Bonnell
                                 ([35]UMCP)
          NASA Official: Amber Straughn [36]Specific rights apply.
            [37]NASA Web Privacy, [38]Accessibility, [39]Notices;
                A service of: [40]ASD at [41]NASA / [42]GSFC,
                         [43]NASA Science Activation
                           & [44]Michigan Tech. U.

References

   1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
   2. https://www.youtube.com/embed/msiLWxDayuA?rel=0
   3. https://www.esa.int/
   4. https://www.nasa.gov/
   5. https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/
   6. https://www.lpl.arizona.edu/missions/cassini
   7. https://www.lpl.arizona.edu/research-scientists/erich-karkoschka
   8. http://www.esa.int/
   9. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA08118
  10. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huygens_(spacecraft)
  11. https://science.nasa.gov/mission/cassini/spacecraft/cassini-orbiter/
  12. https://science.nasa.gov/saturn/moons/titan/
  13. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap041028.html
  14. https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Cassini-Huygens/Huygens_spacecraft
  15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap050117.html
  16. https://media.istockphoto.com/id/1128004359/photo/close-up-scottish-fold-cat-head-with-shocking-face-and-wide-open-eyes-frighten-or-surprised.jpg?s=170667a&w=0&k=20&c=0x_xd9aj8iHg0vn-DHE9OJdjKyeOI6tDWWmqt91MteU=
  17. https://science.nasa.gov/ems/09_visiblelight/
  18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap070207.html
  19. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_Cassini–Huygens
  20. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDygi63Opr8
  21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250118.html
  22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
  23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html
  24. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html
  25. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  26. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html
  27. https://apod.com/feed.rss
  28. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html
  29. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html
  30. https://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=250119
  31. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250120.html
  32. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  33. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  34. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  35. http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  36. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  37. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  38. https://www.nasa.gov/general/accessibility/
  39. https://www.nasa.gov/privacy/
  40. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  41. https://www.nasa.gov/
  42. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  43. https://science.nasa.gov/learners
  44. http://www.mtu.edu/