Potential lake seen on Titan
Posted: Wed, Jun 29, 2005, 8:32 AM ET (1232 GMT)
Scientists studying infrared images of the surface of Titan have discovered what they believe may be a lake of liquid methane near the moon's south pole. Cassini project scientists saw the feature, about the same size as Lake Ontario on Earth, in images taken by the spacecraft early this month. The edges of the region have rounded shapes similar to shorelines, and the region is located near an area of dense clouds that may rain liquid methane onto the surface. Scientists said that the feature may have once been a lake that has since dried up, leaving behind dark deposits seen in the Cassini images. While many planetary scientists expected to find large bodies of liquid on the surface of Saturn's largest moon, to date no liquid features have been seen, although data from both Cassini and the Huygens probe have revealed features like channels and shorelines that suggest that liquid methane or other chemicals could exist on the surface at least temporarily.
Scientists studying infrared images of the surface of Titan have discovered what they believe may be a lake of liquid methane near the moon's south pole. Cassini project scientists saw the feature, about the same size as Lake Ontario on Earth, in images taken by the spacecraft early this month. The edges of the region have rounded shapes similar to shorelines, and the region is located near an area of dense clouds that may rain liquid methane onto the surface. Scientists said that the feature may have once been a lake that has since dried up, leaving behind dark deposits seen in the Cassini images. While many planetary scientists expected to find large bodies of liquid on the surface of Saturn's largest moon, to date no liquid features have been seen, although data from both Cassini and the Huygens probe have revealed features like channels and shorelines that suggest that liquid methane or other chemicals could exist on the surface at least temporarily.
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
|
|
news links
|
|
Monday, August 10
Ukraine’s Defense Forces Destroy Russian Starlink-Jamming Electronic Warfare System in Gelendzhik
Militarnyi — 6:14 am ET (1014 GMT) Disadvantages of Russian Starlink "switch" directly from the ground named
www1.ru — 6:13 am ET (1013 GMT) The discipline of audacity: Peter Beck’s relentless push to space
BusinessDesk — 6:11 am ET (1011 GMT) Blue Origin may be closer to touchdown in Hutto
Taylor (TX) Press — 6:10 am ET (1010 GMT) Launch Called Major Vulnerability for Space Market
National Defense Magazine — 6:10 am ET (1010 GMT) |
