Cassini Gets a Look at Titan

The spacecraft Cassini, in orbit around Saturn, has sent back its first image of one of the main targets of its mission: the mysterious moon Titan.

The orange moon, below, is shrouded by thick clouds composed mostly of methane and hydrogen, comprising the only atmosphere possessed by any moon in our solar system. The Huygens probe, which Cassini carries, will attempt a soft landing on Titan next January, and will hopefully give us our first glimpse of what lies beneath the orange fog.

Rich in organic compounds, Titan may be a prototype of early Earth. On the other hand,there is speculation that it surface may feature literal oceans of petroleum.