High haze over Titan
A global detached haze layer and discrete cloud-like features high above Titan are visible in this close-up image from the NASA/ESA/ASI Cassini-Huygens spacecraft.
This image is a colourised version of an ultraviolet image released on 25 October 2004 as Cassini-Huygens neared its first close encounter with Titan at a distance of about 1 million kilometres.
The detached haze layer, hundreds of kilometres above Titan's surface, is produced by photochemical reactions and is visible as a thin ring of bright material around the entire moon.
At the northern high-latitude edge of the image, additional striations are visible, caused by particulates that are high enough to be illuminated by the Sun even though the surface directly below is in darkness. These striations may simply be caused by a wave propagating through the detached haze, or they may be evidence of additional regional haze or cloud layers not present at other latitudes.
Credits: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute
