“卡西尼”飞船图像——土星卫星“泰坦”上的海洋
Wednesday, 14. March 2007, 08:23:16
Cassini Spacecraft Images Seas on Saturn's Moon Titan
03.13.07
“卡西尼”飞船图像——土星卫星“泰坦”上的海洋
03.13.07
Instruments on NASA's Cassini spacecraft have found evidence for seas, likely filled with liquid methane or ethane, in the high northern latitudes of Saturn's moon Titan. One such feature is larger than any of the Great Lakes of North America and is about the same size as several seas on Earth.
“卡西尼”飞船上的设备在土星卫星“泰坦”的高北纬度地区发现了似乎是填充着甲烷或乙烷的海洋的证据。一个这样的结构就比北美五大湖中的任意一个都大，与地球上的一些海洋大小相仿。
Cassini's radar instrument imaged several very dark features near Titan's north pole. Much larger than similar features seen before on Titan, the largest dark feature measures at least 100,000 square kilometers (39,000 square miles). Since the radar has caught only a portion of each of these features, only their minimum size is known. Titan is the second largest moon in the solar system and is about 50 percent larger than Earth's moon.
“卡西尼”的雷达设备描绘了“泰坦”北极附近的一些非常暗的特征。比之前在“泰坦”上看到的类似结构要大得多，最大的暗轮廓估计至少有100000平方千米。鉴于雷达仅捕获到每个这样轮廓的一部分，目前只知道它们的最小尺寸。“泰坦”是太阳系中第二大的卫星，比地球的月亮大约50%。
"泰坦“上的一个湖与苏必利尔湖的比较。感谢：NASA/JPL/GSFC
"We've long hypothesized about oceans on Titan and now with multiple instruments we have a first indication of seas that dwarf the lakes seen previously," said Dr. Jonathan Lunine, Cassini interdisciplinary scientist at the University of Arizona, Tucson.
亚利桑那大学的 Jonathan Lunine 博士说到：“长期以来人们猜测‘泰坦’上有海洋，如今依靠多种设备我们第一次有了令先前看到的湖泊相形见绌的海洋存在的迹象。
While there is no definitive proof yet that these seas contain liquid, their shape, their dark appearance in radar that indicates smoothness, and their other properties point to the presence of liquids. The liquids are probably a combination of methane and ethane, given the conditions on Titan and the abundance of methane and ethane gases and clouds in Titan's atmosphere.
虽然还没有最终的证明这些海洋里面是液体，但它们的外形、在雷达中呈现出暗色暗示着光滑，以及其他的特性表明存在液体。按“泰坦”大气中丰富的甲烷和乙烷气体以及“泰坦”上的情形，液体可能是甲烷和乙烷的混合物。
Cassini's visual and infrared mapping spectrometer also captured a view of the region, and the team is working to determine the composition of the material contained within these features to test the hypothesis that they are liquid-filled.
“卡西尼”的光学和红外分光计也拍到了该区域，小组目前正在确定这些特征中混合物质的成分以检验它们填充着液体的假设。
The imaging cameras, which provide a global view of Titan, have imaged a much larger, irregular dark feature. The northern end of their image corresponds to one of the radar-imaged seas. The dark area stretches for more than 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) in the image, down to 55 degrees north latitude. If the entire dark area is liquid-filled, it would be only slightly smaller than Earth's Caspian Sea. The radar data show details at the northern end of the dark feature similar to those seen in earlier radar observations of much smaller, liquid-filled lakes. However, to determine if the entire dark feature is a liquid-filled basin will require investigation through additional radar flyovers later in the mission.
提供“泰坦”全景影像的成像相机已描绘出一个更大的不规则阴暗结构。图像的北端同雷达描绘出的海洋中的一个相符。黑暗的地区在图像中延伸超过1000千米，直到北纬55度。如果整个阴暗地区充满液体它将比地球的里海稍小一点。雷达数据在阴暗结构的北端展示出的细节同稍早雷达观测到的小得多的液体湖类似。然而要确定整个阴暗结构是否是一个充满液体的盆地还需要在随后的飞跃中通过雷达更多的调查。
上图是一幅较大“泰坦”图像的一部分，显示出曾见过的最大液态实体之一。在最右端的湖比地球上最大的湖还要大，可以比较恰当的称其为海。图片感谢： NASA/JPL
The presence of these seas reinforces current thinking that Titan's surface must be re-supplying methane to its atmosphere, the original motivation almost a quarter century ago for the theoretical speculation of a global ocean on Titan.
这些海洋的存在支持了当前的观点——“泰坦”的表面在向其大气再补充甲烷。
Cassini's instruments are peeling back the haze that shrouds Titan, showing high northern latitudes dotted with seas hundreds of miles across, and hundreds of smaller lakes that vary from several to tens of miles.
“卡西尼”的设备正在剥离围绕着“泰坦”的阴霾，展示出高北纬地区散布着数百英里宽的海洋，以及数百个几英里到十几英里不等的小湖泊。
Due to the new discoveries, team members are re-pointing Cassini's radar instrument during a May flyby so it can pass directly over the dark areas imaged by the cameras.
由于这些新的发现，小组成员正在调整在5月的飞越过程中雷达设备的指向，让它能直接从照片上的阴暗地区上方经过。
Original：
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/cassini/media/cassini-20070313.html
03.13.07
“卡西尼”飞船图像——土星卫星“泰坦”上的海洋
03.13.07
Instruments on NASA's Cassini spacecraft have found evidence for seas, likely filled with liquid methane or ethane, in the high northern latitudes of Saturn's moon Titan. One such feature is larger than any of the Great Lakes of North America and is about the same size as several seas on Earth.
“卡西尼”飞船上的设备在土星卫星“泰坦”的高北纬度地区发现了似乎是填充着甲烷或乙烷的海洋的证据。一个这样的结构就比北美五大湖中的任意一个都大，与地球上的一些海洋大小相仿。
Cassini's radar instrument imaged several very dark features near Titan's north pole. Much larger than similar features seen before on Titan, the largest dark feature measures at least 100,000 square kilometers (39,000 square miles). Since the radar has caught only a portion of each of these features, only their minimum size is known. Titan is the second largest moon in the solar system and is about 50 percent larger than Earth's moon.
“卡西尼”的雷达设备描绘了“泰坦”北极附近的一些非常暗的特征。比之前在“泰坦”上看到的类似结构要大得多，最大的暗轮廓估计至少有100000平方千米。鉴于雷达仅捕获到每个这样轮廓的一部分，目前只知道它们的最小尺寸。“泰坦”是太阳系中第二大的卫星，比地球的月亮大约50%。
"泰坦“上的一个湖与苏必利尔湖的比较。感谢：NASA/JPL/GSFC
"We've long hypothesized about oceans on Titan and now with multiple instruments we have a first indication of seas that dwarf the lakes seen previously," said Dr. Jonathan Lunine, Cassini interdisciplinary scientist at the University of Arizona, Tucson.
亚利桑那大学的 Jonathan Lunine 博士说到：“长期以来人们猜测‘泰坦’上有海洋，如今依靠多种设备我们第一次有了令先前看到的湖泊相形见绌的海洋存在的迹象。
While there is no definitive proof yet that these seas contain liquid, their shape, their dark appearance in radar that indicates smoothness, and their other properties point to the presence of liquids. The liquids are probably a combination of methane and ethane, given the conditions on Titan and the abundance of methane and ethane gases and clouds in Titan's atmosphere.
虽然还没有最终的证明这些海洋里面是液体，但它们的外形、在雷达中呈现出暗色暗示着光滑，以及其他的特性表明存在液体。按“泰坦”大气中丰富的甲烷和乙烷气体以及“泰坦”上的情形，液体可能是甲烷和乙烷的混合物。
Cassini's visual and infrared mapping spectrometer also captured a view of the region, and the team is working to determine the composition of the material contained within these features to test the hypothesis that they are liquid-filled.
“卡西尼”的光学和红外分光计也拍到了该区域，小组目前正在确定这些特征中混合物质的成分以检验它们填充着液体的假设。
The imaging cameras, which provide a global view of Titan, have imaged a much larger, irregular dark feature. The northern end of their image corresponds to one of the radar-imaged seas. The dark area stretches for more than 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) in the image, down to 55 degrees north latitude. If the entire dark area is liquid-filled, it would be only slightly smaller than Earth's Caspian Sea. The radar data show details at the northern end of the dark feature similar to those seen in earlier radar observations of much smaller, liquid-filled lakes. However, to determine if the entire dark feature is a liquid-filled basin will require investigation through additional radar flyovers later in the mission.
提供“泰坦”全景影像的成像相机已描绘出一个更大的不规则阴暗结构。图像的北端同雷达描绘出的海洋中的一个相符。黑暗的地区在图像中延伸超过1000千米，直到北纬55度。如果整个阴暗地区充满液体它将比地球的里海稍小一点。雷达数据在阴暗结构的北端展示出的细节同稍早雷达观测到的小得多的液体湖类似。然而要确定整个阴暗结构是否是一个充满液体的盆地还需要在随后的飞跃中通过雷达更多的调查。
上图是一幅较大“泰坦”图像的一部分，显示出曾见过的最大液态实体之一。在最右端的湖比地球上最大的湖还要大，可以比较恰当的称其为海。图片感谢： NASA/JPL
The presence of these seas reinforces current thinking that Titan's surface must be re-supplying methane to its atmosphere, the original motivation almost a quarter century ago for the theoretical speculation of a global ocean on Titan.
这些海洋的存在支持了当前的观点——“泰坦”的表面在向其大气再补充甲烷。
Cassini's instruments are peeling back the haze that shrouds Titan, showing high northern latitudes dotted with seas hundreds of miles across, and hundreds of smaller lakes that vary from several to tens of miles.
“卡西尼”的设备正在剥离围绕着“泰坦”的阴霾，展示出高北纬地区散布着数百英里宽的海洋，以及数百个几英里到十几英里不等的小湖泊。
Due to the new discoveries, team members are re-pointing Cassini's radar instrument during a May flyby so it can pass directly over the dark areas imaged by the cameras.
由于这些新的发现，小组成员正在调整在5月的飞越过程中雷达设备的指向，让它能直接从照片上的阴暗地区上方经过。
Original：
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/cassini/media/cassini-20070313.html
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