Titan Occulting Binary Stars (NV0435215+200905) - Faster clip

See more at http://highpowerrocketry.blogspot.com

"What might look like Pac Man swallowing a dot is actually Saturn's moon Titan occulting (passing in front of) a binary star system (named NV0435215+200905). The two stars are separated in the sky by just 1.5 arc seconds (One arc second is 1/3600 of a degree).

Because fantastic resolving power of the Hale using adaptive optics you can see that the light of the star nearest to Titan is being refracted by Titan's dense atmosphere. Such events are rare, but valuable. The starlight as it is seen passing through Titan's atmosphere is essentially a probe providing clues as to the density, temperature and wind patterns of this distant world. The team of astronomers (Antonin Bouchez, Michael E. Brown, Mitchell Troy, Rick S. Burruss, Richard G. Dekany and Robert A. West) that observed this event December 20, 2001 was fortunate that both of the stars were seen to pass behind Titan. This provided two passes through Titan's atmosphere - effectively doubling what could be learned from the event."

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• Science
• Astronomy
• Space
• Telescope
• Titan
• Saturn
• Binary
• Star
• Occultation