Titan Casts Revealing Shadow

Chandra_73_1024

chandra_73 April 5th, 2004

Credit: NASA/CXC/Penn State/K.Mori et al.

When Titan passed in front of the X-ray bright Crab Nebula on January 5, 2003, it gave astronomers a rare opportunity to study its X-ray shadow (inset). Chandra's precise measurement of Titan's shadow enabled astronomers to determine that its X-ray absorbing atmosphere has a height of about 550 miles (880 kilometers). This may have been the first transit of the Crab Nebula by Titan since the nebula was formed by a supernova that was observed to occur in the year 1054. The next similar conjunction will take place in the year 2267.

Provider: Chandra X-ray Observatory

Image Source: http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2004/titan/

Curator: Chandra X-ray Observatory, Cambridge, MA, USA

Image Use Policy: http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/image_use.html

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Image Details Image Details

Image Type
Collage
Object Name
Titan

Distance Details Distance

Color Mapping Details Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Blue Chandra (ACIS) X-ray 826.7 pm
Spectrum_xray1
Blue
Chandra_73_1280
×
ID
73
Subject Category
Subject Name
Titan
Credits
NASA/CXC/Penn State/K.Mori et al.
Release Date
2004-04-05
Lightyears
1.27e-4
Redshift
1.27e-4
Reference Url
http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2004/titan/
Type
Collage
Image Quality
Good
Distance Notes
Facility
Chandra
Instrument
ACIS
Color Assignment
Blue
Band
X-ray
Bandpass
Central Wavelength
0.8267
Start Time
Integration Time
Dataset ID
Notes
Coordinate Frame
Equinox
Reference Value
Reference Dimension
Reference Pixel
Scale
Rotation
Coordinate System Projection:
Quality
FITS Header
Notes
Creator (Curator)
Chandra X-ray Observatory
URL
http://chandra.harvard.edu
Name
Chandra X-ray Observatory Center
Email
cxcpub@cfa.harvard.edu
Telephone
617.496.7941
Address
60 Garden St.
City
Cambridge
State/Province
MA
Postal Code
02138
Country
USA
Rights
http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/image_use.html
Publisher
Chandra X-ray Observatory Center
Publisher ID
chandra
Resource ID
titanpathcomp_scale.tif
Resource URL
http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2004/titan/titanpathcomp_scale.tif
Related Resources
Metadata Date
2012-03-23T15:49:43-04:00
Metadata Version
1.2
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