Alien Crystals Unlike Any Found on Earth Might Encrust The Edges of Titan's Lakes
Scientists have recreated Titan-like conditions in a lab, and found that organic molecules from Titan's atmosphere could be forming rings of alien crystals around the methane lakes that dot the Saturn moon's surface.
Previously, the team led by researchers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory had discovered two of these 'molecular minerals'. Now they've discovered a third, made of acetylene and butane, and believe it could be the most abundant one yet.
"We have demonstrated previously that some organic molecules readily form co-crystals in Titan-relevant conditions, including acetylene," they write in a conference abstract presented this week.
"We report here preliminary evidence for a third co-crystal between acetylene and butane, which could be the most common molecular mineral discovered so far."
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Flat spots on Saturn's moon Titan may be the floors of ancient lake beds
Peculiar flat regions on Saturn's moon Titan could be the dry floors of ancient lakes and seas. The suggestion, published June 16 in Nature Communications, may solve a 20-year-old mystery [open, DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-16663-1] [DX].
[...] "Titan is still currently the only other place in the universe that we know to have liquid on its surface, just like the Earth," says planetary scientist Jason Hofgartner of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. But the lakes and seas are concentrated near Titan's poles, not the tropics. The regions where the specular reflections show up are bafflingly dry.
[...] The researchers considered whether rainfall, dunes or dry lake beds could be responsible for the reflections, and found that only lake beds explain the timing and locations of the signals. It does rain on Titan, but not frequently enough to explain the reflections, and Titan's dune fields are in the wrong spots. And the specular reflections come from two specific regions that look like other empty lake basins near Titan's poles (SN: 4/15/19).
[...] So if the reflections come from lost lakes, where did the liquid go? One possibility is that it moved from the equator to the poles as part of a Titan-wide methane cycle (SN: 12/8/17). Another is that the liquid evaporated and was destroyed by sunlight striking Titan's atmosphere.
Related: Titan's Flooded Canyons
Tiny Waves Estimated in Titan's Hydrocarbon Lakes
Extreme Methane Rainstorms Appear to Have a Key Role in Shaping Titan's Icy Surface
Acetylene and Butane Could Form Crystals on Titan
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 26 2019, @07:39AM (3 children)
And all those marketing droids keep hammering on "it's organic! you should eat that instead!"
I don't want that crap in my food. That's why I never buy organic! That shit will kill you!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 26 2019, @09:07AM (2 children)
But an Acetylene crystal would power my Oxy/Acetylene torch for how long? Are the pressures do-able on Earth? Will there be a rather large explosion?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 26 2019, @12:35PM (1 child)
No Crystal Methane?
(Score: 2) by HiThere on Wednesday June 26 2019, @05:00PM
Try Neptune. That probably needs higher pressure.
Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
(Score: 2) by Nuke on Wednesday June 26 2019, @12:35PM (3 children)
When they build a space station, there will be no stepping outside for a cigarette.
(Score: 3, Informative) by deimtee on Wednesday June 26 2019, @12:58PM (2 children)
Nah, stuff won't burn. There's no free oxygen.
You could make a pretty good blowtorch though, with just a tank of oxygen and a nozzle.
No problem is insoluble, but at Ksp = 2.943×10−25 Mercury Sulphide comes close.
(Score: 2) by Rupert Pupnick on Wednesday June 26 2019, @03:46PM
Somebody call Elon Musk! Sounds like a great opportunity for him here! ;)
(Score: 2) by Osamabobama on Wednesday June 26 2019, @08:01PM
That's why you can't step outside to smoke.
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