Titan is one of the most intriguing moons in our Solar System. From the outside astronomers sée a ball of golden-orange haze, but what's hiding beneath this atmosphere is what intrigues them - a freezing world with bodies of liquid. Planetary scientists are fascinated by Titan and its unusual contents. Titan, the largest moon of Saturn and the second-largest moon in the Solar System behind Jupiter's Ganymede, is an.. icy ball that stretches out to almost 5,150 kilometres (3,200 miles) in diameter, nearly 50 per cent wider than Earth's Moon. Due to Saturn's position in space, around 1.4 billion kilometres (870 million miles) from the Sun - nine times farther than Earth's average distance - its satellite Titan receives sunlight that is 100 times fainter than the light on Earth. This freezing world may be one that is inhospitable for humans, but its icy lakes are a close Earth analogue. These features have been the subject of many studies.
Though there are many interesting moons in the Solar System, Titan is the most Earth-like: it has an atmosphere and is rocky, but also has bodies of liquid on the surface with a rain cycle replenishing them. All of this happens on a moon that has a surface temperature of -179 degrees Celsius (-290 degrees Fahrenheit). Unlike Earth, there aren't lakes of water on Titan, as that would have been frozen. Instead, the lakes, rivers and seas are filled with liquid hydrocarbons such as methane and ethane. These complex molecules are capable of existing as liquids at such a cold temperature.
この記事は All About Space の Issue 130 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です ? サインイン
この記事は All About Space の Issue 130 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です? サインイン
15 AUTUMN STARGAZING TARGETS
Go on a night-sky treasure hunt as the brighter evenings give way to the cooler months
MYSTERIES OF THE UNIVERSE WHY IS VENUS SO DRY?
A new study reckons the answer lies high in the Venusian atmosphere
WHEN BLACK HOLES TURN WHITE
Can bouncing black holes help physicists find the ultimate theory of everything?
THE MOON'S THIN ATMOSPHERE IS MADE BY CONSTANT METEORITE BOMBARDMENT
While the solar wind also contributes to the atmosphere, meteorites are the main culprit
INTERSTELLAR TRAVEL AND HOW TO BECOME A SPACE TOURIST
Having explored much of the Solar System, attention is now turning to the stars beyond
NASA'S PERSEVERANCE ROVER FINDS POSSIBLE SIGNS OF ANCIENT RED PLANET LIFE
Further analysis is needed, but a rock contains potential evidence that life once existed on Mars in the distant past
A NASA TELESCOPE MAY HAVE FOUND ANTIMATTER ANNIHILATING IN POSSIBLY THE BIGGEST EXPLOSION SINCE THE BIG BANG
The massive explosion was captured in 2022
Jameel Janjua "This is how we get to Mach 3”
Jameel Janjua made it to the bitter end in a Canadian government astronaut selection in 2009, but wasn't chosen. He found a different path to space through Virgin Galactic
BOEING NEEDS TO IMPROVE QUALITY CONTROL ON THE SLS MOON ROCKET
The NASA Inspector General's report finds serious quality-control issues affecting the upgraded version and expects cost overruns and delays
DARK ENERGY
THE MOST DOMINANT FORCE IN THE UNIVERSE IS ALSO ITS MOST MYSTERIOUS AND MOST UNANTICIPATED