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from the extraterrestrial-white-'water'-rafting dept.
The aptly named Titan, Saturn's largest moon, is remarkably Earth-like. Its diameter is only about 40% that of our planet, but Titan's nitrogen-rich, dense atmosphere and the geological activity at the moon's surface make comparisons between the two bodies inevitable.
Aside from Earth, Titan is the only other body where we have found evidence of active erosion on a large scale. There are seas, lakes and rivers filled with liquid hydrocarbons – mainly methane and some ethane – that etch the moon's surface, in much the same way water erodes Earth's.
A striking example is Vid Flumina, the Nile-like, branching river system visible on the upper-left quadrant of the image. The river, in the moon's north polar region, flows into Ligeia Mare, a methane-rich sea that appears as a dark patch on the right side of the image.
Researchers in Italy and the US analysed Cassini radar observations from May 2013 and recently revealed that the narrow channels that branch off Vid Flumina are deep, steep-sided canyons filled with flowing hydrocarbons.
Do Titanians worry about too much oxygen in their atmosphere?
(Score: 4, Interesting) by FatPhil on Wednesday September 21 2016, @04:26PM
So it looks like it makes sense, just comparing the geological appearance, but the numbers puzzle me a bit. Maybe the liquid's more ethane than methane, or something, but that only doubles the density.
Whatever - that's what scientific investigation and gathering more information is all about - bring on those images, Cassini - thanks NASA! (And ESA for Huygens, of course.)
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