Subj : Daily APOD Report
To   : All
From : Alan Ianson
Date : Thu Jul 24 2025 00:26:08

                        Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                                2025 July 24

                            Titan Shadow Transit
                Image Credit & Copyright: Volodymyr Andrienko

   Explanation: Every 15 years or so, Saturn's rings are tilted edge-on to
   our line of sight. As the bright, beautiful ring system grows narrower
   and fainter it becomes increasingly difficult to see for denizens of
   planet Earth. But it does provide the opportunity to watch transits of
   Saturn's moons and their dark shadows across the ringed gas giant's
   still bright disk. Of course Saturn's largest moon Titan is the easiest
   to spot in transit. In this telescopic snapshot from July 18, Titan
   itself is at the upper left, casting a round dark shadow on Saturn's
   banded cloudtops above the narrow rings. In fact Titan's transit season
   is in full swing now with shadow transits every 16 days corresponding
   to the moon's orbital period. Its final shadow transit will be on
   October 6, though Titan's pale disk will continue to cross in front of
   Saturn as seen from telescopes on planet Earth every 16 days through
   January 25, 2026.

                     Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
     __________________________________________________________________

       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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                      A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
                           NASA Science Activation
                             & Michigan Tech. U.

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