Tag Archive for 'Titan'

This global digital map of Titan was created using images taken by Cassini’s imaging science subsystem (ISS). The mean radius of Titan used for projection of this map is 1,600 miles (2,575 km). Titan is assumed to be spherical until a control network is created at some point in the future. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / Space Science Institute.

NASA Releases Updated Maps of Saturn’s Moon Titan

Oct 13, 2015 by News Staff

NASA has released a global digital map of Saturn’s largest moon, Titan, and two polar stereographic maps its northern and southern hemispheres. This...

The young Mars would have had enough water to cover its entire surface in a liquid layer about 140 m deep, but it is more likely that the liquid would have pooled to form an ocean occupying almost half of Mars’s northern hemisphere, and in some regions reaching depths greater than 1.6 km. Image credit: M. Kornmesser / ESO / N. Risinger, skysurvey.org.

What Would Alien Lifeforms on Titan and Mars-Type Exoplanets Be Like?

Aug 27, 2015 by News Staff

In a new paper published in the journal Life, Prof Dirk Schulze-Makuch of Washington State University and his colleagues from Germany draw upon what is...

This image shows Saturn’s moons Titan, Mimas (center bottom) and Rhea (upper left). Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / Space Science Institute.

Triple Crescents: Cassini Captures Incredible Image of Three of Saturn’s Moons

Jun 23, 2015 by News Staff

NASA’s Cassini spacecraft has captured a rare family photo of three of Saturn’s moons: Titan, Mimas and Rhea. This image shows Saturn’s moons Titan,...

Planetary Scientists Shed Light on Origins of Lakes on Titan

Jun 22, 2015 by News Staff

The surface of Titan – the largest moon of Saturn – dissolves in a similar process that creates sinkholes on our planet, says a team of scientists...

Researchers Discover Earth-Like Polar Winds on Titan

Jun 19, 2015 by News Staff

A team of researchers led by Dr Andrew Coates of University College London, UK, has found that the interactions between the atmosphere of Saturn’s moon...

The moons of our Solar System are brimming with unusual landscapes. However, sometimes they look a little more familiar, as in this new radar image from the Cassini orbiter. The image shows dark streaks carved into dunes reminiscent of those we might find on a beach on Earth, or raked with flowing lines in a Japanese Zen garden — but this scene is actually taking place on Saturn’s moon Titan. While our sand is composed of silicates, the ‘sand’ of these alien dunes is formed from grains of organic materials about the same size as particles of our beach sand. The small size and smoothness of these grains means that the flowing lines carved into the dunes show up as dark to the human eye. While previous images have spotted these eerily familiar patterns on Titan's dunes, this new image (colorized) shows them in greater detail. The image was obtained by Cassini's radar mapper on July 10, 2013. The vertical seam near the center is an artifact of radar image data processing. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / Sci-News.com.

Why Dunes on Saturn’s Moon Titan Point to East

Apr 14, 2015 by News Staff

A new study published in the journal Nature Geoscience explains why the sand dunes of Titan run in parallel lines from the west to the east. The moons...

Azotosome vesicle, the size of a small virus particle. Image credit: James Stevenson et al.

Oxygen-Free, Methane-Based Life Forms Could Exist on Titan, Say Scientists

Feb 28, 2015 by News Staff

Titan – a planetary body awash with seas not of water, but of liquid methane – could harbor oxygen-free, methane-based life forms, says a team...

This image shows conditions observed by Cassini during a flyby on December 1, 2013, when the magnetosphere of Saturn was highly compressed, exposing Titan to the full force of the solar wind. In analyzing data from the encounter, the researchers observed that the moon interacted with the solar wind much like the planets Mars and Venus, or a comet. Specifically, they saw that the solar wind draped itself around Titan, creating a shockwave that formed around Titan where the full-force solar wind rammed into the atmosphere of the moon. Previously, scientists had thought Titan would have a different sort of interaction with the solar wind because of the complex atmospheric chemistry of the moon. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

NASA’s Cassini Observes Interaction of Titan with Supersonic Solar Wind

Jan 30, 2015 by News Staff

Scientists analyzing data from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft have found that Titan – the largest moon of Saturn and the only moon in the Solar System with...

Scientists Celebrate Ten Years since Cassini-Huygens Landing on Titan

Jan 16, 2015 by News Staff

Ten years ago, ESA’s Huygens probe entered the history books by descending to the surface of Titan, the largest moon of Saturn. Humanity’s...

This image was obtained on 10 September 2007 by NASA's Cassini spacecraft, at a distance of approximately 3.3 million km from Saturn. Rhea - Saturn's second largest moon - is visible against the bluish backdrop of the planet's northern hemisphere. Mimas - Saturn's seventh largest moon - appears as a speck against the ring shadows on planet's western limb. Image credit: NASA / JPL / Space Science Institute.

Scientists Precisely Pinpoint Position of Saturn, its Moons

Jan 9, 2015 by News Staff

A team of researchers using NASA’s Cassini spacecraft and a ground-based radio-telescope system has accurately determined the center of mass, or...

New Study Sheds More Light on Mystery of Titan Sand Dunes

Dec 9, 2014 by News Staff

Titan is one of the few bodies in the Solar System known to have fields of wind-blown dunes on its surface. A new study published in the journal Nature...

Cassini caught the sunlight glinting off Titan's seas and lakes filled with liquid methane or ethane. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / University of Arizona / University of Idaho.

Cassini Zooms in on Sunny Hydrocarbon Seas and Lakes on Titan

Oct 31, 2014 by News Staff

NASA’s Cassini spacecraft has caught a glimpse of bright sunlight reflecting off vast hydrocarbon seas and lakes near the north pole of the Saturn’s...

This image is a composite of several images taken during two separate Titan flybys in 2006. The large circular feature near the center of Titan's disk may be the remnant of a very old impact basin. The mountain ranges to the southeast of the circular feature, and the long dark, linear feature to the northwest of the old impact scar may have resulted from tectonic activity on Titan caused by the energy released when the impact occurred. Image credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona.

Astronomers Intrigued by Mysterious Zones of Organic Molecules on Titan

Oct 23, 2014 by News Staff

A multinational team of astronomers studying the chemical make-up of the atmosphere on Saturn’s moon Titan has revealed large zones of two organic...

Titan's ice shell, which overlies a very salty ocean, varies in thickness around the moon, suggesting the crust is in the process of becoming rigid. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / SSI / University of Arizona / G. Mitri / University of Nantes.

Titan Harbors Very Salty Ocean, Say Scientists

Jul 6, 2014 by News Staff

A detailed analysis of gravity and topography data from Titan, the largest moon of Saturn, provides strong evidence that the ocean inside the moon might...

Nitrogen in Atmosphere of Titan Might Pre-Date Saturn, Study Says

Jun 24, 2014 by News Staff

A new study provides strong evidence that the nitrogen in the atmosphere of Titan – the largest of the Saturn’s known 62 moons – originated...

Planetary Scientists Discover Mysterious Geologic Object on Titan

Jun 23, 2014 by News Staff

A team of planetary researchers, led by Jason Hofgartner of Cornell University, has announced the discovery of an anomalous, bright geologic object –...

This false-color mosaic, made from infrared data collected by NASA's Cassini spacecraft, reveals the differences in the composition of surface materials around hydrocarbon lakes at Titan, Saturn's largest moon. Titan is the only other place in the solar system that we know has stable liquid on its surface, though its lakes are made of liquid ethane and methane rather than liquid water. While there is one large lake and a few smaller ones near Titan's south pole, almost all of Titan's lakes appear near the moon's north pole. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / University of Arizona / University of Idaho.

NASA Scientists Recreate Complex Chemistry of Titan’s Atmosphere

Jun 15, 2014 by News Staff

The chemistry of the smoggy atmosphere of the Saturn’s largest moon, Titan, has been successfully simulated by NASA researchers in lab experiments. This...

Titan and Rhea. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / Space Science Institute.

Cassini Captures New Images of Saturn, Titan, Rhea, Enceladus

Dec 29, 2013 by News Staff

NASA’s Cassini team has released stunning new images of Saturn and its three moons – Titan, Enceladus and Rhea. Saturn. Image credit: NASA...

This image of Titan, taken by Cassini spacecraft, reveals differences in the composition of surface materials around hydrocarbon lakes and seas on this largest moon of Saturn. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / University of Arizona / University of Idaho.

Cassini Spots Hydrocarbon Lakes, Seas on Titan

Oct 28, 2013 by News Staff

Using a visual and infrared mapping spectrometer and an imaging science subsystem onboard NASA’s Cassini spacecraft, scientists have mapped liquid...

Propylene: Ingredient of Household Plastic Detected in Atmosphere of Saturn’s Moon Titan

Oct 2, 2013 by News Staff

Planetary scientists using the Composite InfRared Spectrometer aboard NASA/ESA’s Cassini spacecraft have detected propylene in the lower atmosphere...

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