Titan "seas" made of sand
Posted: Fri, May 5, 2006, 12:17 PM ET (1617 GMT)
Dark areas on the surface of Saturn's moon Titan previously thought to be liquid hydrocarbon oceans are in fact vast areas of sand dunes, scientists report. In a paper published in Friday's issue of the journal Science, researchers using radar data from the Cassini spacecraft concluded that the dark areas previous spotted in the moon's equatorial regions are seas of sand dunes similar to those found in Arabia or Namibia. The dunes are created by tidal-driven winds, rather than solar energy-driven winds. Unlike the Earth, the sands are not thought to be made of grains of silicates but instead some mixture of organic materials and/or water ice grains.
Dark areas on the surface of Saturn's moon Titan previously thought to be liquid hydrocarbon oceans are in fact vast areas of sand dunes, scientists report. In a paper published in Friday's issue of the journal Science, researchers using radar data from the Cassini spacecraft concluded that the dark areas previous spotted in the moon's equatorial regions are seas of sand dunes similar to those found in Arabia or Namibia. The dunes are created by tidal-driven winds, rather than solar energy-driven winds. Unlike the Earth, the sands are not thought to be made of grains of silicates but instead some mixture of organic materials and/or water ice grains.
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
Space Force adds Rocket Lab and Stoke Space to NSSL contract
Posted: Sun, Mar 30 9:19 AM ET (1319 GMT) |
|
news links
|
|
Wednesday, April 2
Europe’s Launcher Revival Faces Challenging Start
Aviation Week — 5:18 am ET (0918 GMT) Space Force picks Northrop for ‘Elixir’ satellite refueling demo
Defense News — 5:17 am ET (0917 GMT) Gwynne Shotwell Rides SpaceX To Billion-Dollar Fortune
Forbes.com — 5:15 am ET (0915 GMT) SpaceX Puts Humans in Orbit Over Earth’s Poles for the First Time
New York Times — 5:13 am ET (0913 GMT) FAA closes investigation of January SpaceX Starship explosion
KTBC-TV Austin, TX — 5:11 am ET (0911 GMT) |
