9th January 2007

Titan Has Lakes like Earth!

There is now evidence that Saturn’s moon has lakes and a “water” cycle that are very similar to the earth’s. The only difference is that the lakes of titan are not made of water. They could be made of liquid methane which works like water in the very cold climate of titan,according to researchers.

These lakes on titan were discovered when the Cassini spacecraft did a radar mapping. One of the Titan researchers, Stofan was amazed to see so many similarities between Titan and the Earth.

“If you were standing on the shores of these lakes, in some ways they would look familiar,” she added. You could see pebbles on the bottom. And the largest lake is 70 kilometers [43 miles] across, so there’s probably enough [distance] for waves to form.”

She also said that, some of the radar images also show that the lake’s surfaces have choppier ends near the shores, which could be an indicator of wave action. The next thing they want to know according to Stofan is to watch how the lakes change as Titan’s 29-year-long seasonal cycle shift from winter to spring.

Learning more about Titan’s methane cycle will help us understand our own planet better, added Christophe Sotin of the University of Nantes in France.”Titan is the only other place in the solar system where liquid is present at the surface,” Sotin said by email. Liquids are believed to be necessary for life. “On Titan we don’t expect life at the surface, because the temperature is too small—minus 179 degrees Celsius [minus 290 degrees Fahrenheit],” Sotin said.

He added that the study of methane could help us understand the processes that brought into existence any liquid including water. For liquids to continue for billions of years, there has to be a long-term equilibrium between natural forces like evaporation and rainfall. “By studying Titan, we may better understand the evolution of any planet, including Earth,” he said.

posted in Amazing Facts, Outer Space | 0 Comments

9th January 2007

South Louisiana is Moving Into the Sea!

posted in Amazing Facts, Devastation | 0 Comments