Active weather region spotted for first time on a faraway moon
Partly cloudy with a chance of methane? Astronomers with the Space Telescope Science Institute say they have spotted evidence of active weather patterns on Saturn's largest moon, Titan, helping to shape theories of the natural satellite.
Using data from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope and the ground-based Keck II telescope in Hawaii, researchers said they were able to discern cloud formations over bodies of methane and ethane gases across the moon's northern hemisphere.
The discovery is notable because previous observations only suggested that meteorological processes occurred over its southern hemisphere.
Images captured by the technology observed clouds above the mid- to high-northern latitudes, where the summer season was underway.
"Titan is the only other place in our solar system that has weather like Earth, in the sense that it has clouds and rainfall onto a surface," Conor Nixon of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, said in a statement.
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According to Nasa, Titan possesses a dense nitrogen-based atmosphere and apparently has an active weather cycle similar to Earth — only instead of raining water, it's raining methane.
Due to its unique atmosphere, temperatures are thought to hover around -290 degrees Fahrenheit, but despite the frigid environment, evaporation, cloud formation and rainfall all occur.
The northern hemisphere is home to most of Titan's lakes and is similar in structure to North America's Great Lakes, with the lakes instead being fed by liquid methane rainfall.
Unlike Earth, Titan's troposphere extends much higher, reaching about 27 miles above the surface, compared to Earth's 7-mile-tall troposphere, according to researchers at the Space Telescope Science Institute.
Saturn is thought to have around 274 moons - more than any other planet in the solar system - but it is unknown if any of the natural satellites exhibit characteristics similar to Titan.
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Over time, methane in Titan's atmosphere is being depleted, and without a replenishing source, the moon could lose its atmosphere - similar to the fate of Mars.
"On Titan, methane is a consumable. It's possible that it is being constantly resupplied and fizzing out of the crust and interior over billions of years. If not, eventually it will all be gone and Titan will become a mostly airless world of dust and dunes," Nixon stated.
NASA plans to launch a rotorcraft to conduct surveillance of Titan, but a launch is not anticipated before 2028, with an arrival around 2034.
"With contributions from partners around the globe, Dragonfly's scientific payload will characterize the habitability of Titan's environment, investigate the progression of prebiotic chemistry on Titan, where carbon-rich material and liquid water may have mixed for an extended period, and search for chemical indications of whether water-based or hydrocarbon-based life once existed on Saturn's moon," NASA recently stated about the planned mission.Original article source: Active weather region spotted for first time on a faraway moon
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