Titan occults a star
On November 29, 2022, Titan, Saturn’s massive moon, handed in entrance of a distant background star in an occasion known as an occultation by astronomers. The European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope captured the occasion in photos you possibly can see on this web page.
Titan is the one moon in our solar system with a dense ambiance. And the astronomers stated this occultation provided them a singular likelihood to review this distant moon, which is understood to have clouds, rain, rivers, lakes and seas of liquid hydrocarbons (like methane and ethane).
The Very Massive Telescopes, or VLT – utilizing its SPHERE adaptive optics was capable of picture Titan regardless of its distance of greater than 700 million miles (1.1 billion km) from Earth. Astronomers have been capable of obtain a .04 arcsecond decision of Titan and the passing star (resolution, to astronomers, is a sign of how clearly we see an object).
From Earth, Titan seems about .8 arcseconds extensive. That’s tiny, contemplating that one diploma of sky is the same as your pinky finger held at arm’s size. And it takes 60 arcminutes to make up one diploma, and 60 arcseconds to make up one arcminute.
Within the VLT picture, the rings across the star are diffraction artifacts, and the white and black dots are unhealthy pixels.
The development of the occultation
Connor A. Nixon, a planetary scientist at NASA Goddard who researches planetary atmospheres and astrobiology (life within the universe), was a kind of learning the occultation. Listed below are Nixon’s play-by-play photos of the occultation, through Twitter.
We’re locked on Titan with HAWK-I on VLT-4 Yepun and Titan is getting near the star. Occultation in T-Quarter-hour! pic.twitter.com/P4GZnc3RFp
— Conor A Nixon (@Shamrocketeer) November 30, 2022
Holy cow. That is stay proper now. Titan seen with @eso VLT SPHERE Adaptive Optics digital camera, approaching occultation with a background star (higher left). pic.twitter.com/aO66Dx863c
— Conor A Nixon (@Shamrocketeer) November 30, 2022
Titan is consuming a star. VLT SPHERE rn. pic.twitter.com/th8bBbnuPS
— Conor A Nixon (@Shamrocketeer) November 30, 2022
Yum. pic.twitter.com/qJl1zzUd3K
— Conor A Nixon (@Shamrocketeer) November 30, 2022
Double picture of the star on Titan’s limb refracted by the ambiance. pic.twitter.com/1FmP1m94m9
— Conor A Nixon (@Shamrocketeer) November 30, 2022
The occultation is over and the star safely escaped TItan’s clutches. Adios amigo… till subsequent time. pic.twitter.com/SEJmsMgIH5
— Conor A Nixon (@Shamrocketeer) November 30, 2022
Backside line: Titan occulted (handed in entrance of) a distant background star on November 29, 2022. The European Southern Observatory’s Very Massive Telescope captured superb photos of the occasion.
