October 11, 2007

A Land of Lakes and Seas...


NASA has released a 60% complete mosaic of the northern hemipshere of Saturn's moon Titan. The view is quite striking. There is evidence that the dark bodies seen on Titan's surface are lakes, seas, rivers, and tributaries made up of liquid methane or ethane.

The distribution of the liquid bodies indicates that a process similar to Earth's water cycle is in effect. Researchers are fairly certain that it rains liquid methane on Titan.

Titan is now the only known object in the solar system to have standing pools of liquid on a rocky, terrestrial landscape.

While Titan may look like a rocky desert, don't be fooled. It is nearly -300 degrees Farenheit.