For the first time, astronomers have observed waves or surface bubbles in a methane sea on the surface of Titan, Saturn’s largest moon.
While surface temperature averages around −179.5 °C, Titan is the only other planetary body in the Solar System with seas of stable liquid on its surface. The authors analyzed radar data from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft – which has monitored Titan since 2004 – and detected bright spots that were not seen in earlier or later radar images.
This suggests that Titan’s seas could react differently to the changing seasons.
Original research paper published in the Nature Geoscience on June 22, 2014.
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