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
|
|
Roscosmos replaces cosmonaut on next Crew Dragon mission to ISS
Posted: Sat, Dec 6 9:45 AM ET (1445 GMT) |
|
news links
|
|
Thursday, December 11
Slovakia looking to make ESA’s space vision reality
Slovak Spectator — 5:29 am ET (1029 GMT) Shine bright like a satellite
ESA — 5:28 am ET (1028 GMT) Funding boost unlocks future space science programme
ESA — 5:28 am ET (1028 GMT) Swarm detects rare proton spike during solar storm
ESA — 5:27 am ET (1027 GMT) Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth expected to visit Redstone Arsenal for Space Command sign unveiling
WHNT-TV — 5:23 am ET (1023 GMT) |
