The Planet Saturn - Articles - Zimbio

Confirmation of Water on Titan

Tue, 30 Jul 2008 03:43:06 GMT

posted by nlhouser

“Detection of liquid ethane in Ontario Lacus confirms a long-held idea that lakes and seas filled with methane and ethane exist on Titan,” said researcher Larry Soderblom of the U.S. Geological Survey in Flagstaff, Ariz.

Considered the largest moon of Saturn and the second largest moon in the solar system, astronomers have always suspected that the giant Titan had an atmosphere on it. They also suspected that frozen water was on its surface due to its low temperatures of minus 290 degrees Fahrenheit. But suspecting and knowing are too different things, and just recently it was proven by Cassini fly-bys and image studies of the International Cassini spacecraft that Titan has several lake-like features which contain liquid hydrocarbons. This makes Saturn’s moon the only solar system body which has liquid on its surface—other than Earth.

The radar images that the Cassini spacecraft was focusing on was located at Titan’s South Pole, taken on December 20, 2007, in an area of 385 miles by 170 miles. The images gave evidence to wide river channels, along with short and chaotic drainage patterns. Eroded rugged terrain seemed to be eroded by flowing liquids, seemingly from a combination of methane rainstorms and sapping—where subsurface methane rose to erode the surface. The interesting aspect seen by Cassini was the flat-floored broad valleys, filled with smooth materials with sharply defined, relatively straight sides. It is known by scientists that this type of area can be formed by tectonic processes, caused by flowing liquid or ice, rifting, or erosion processes. Called Ontrio Lacus, the imaged area has been proven to be filled mostly with methane and ethane, hydrocarbons that are gases on Earth, yet liquid on Titan due to the cold temperature.

The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter was designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The radar instrument was built by JPL and the Italian Space Agency, working with team members from the United States and several European countries.

Giant Cyclones Seen on Saturn

Mon, 14 Oct 2008 01:45:29 GMT

posted by wisnoe

October 14, 2008

SPACE.com - Scientists have discovered a giant cyclone swirling on Saturn's north pole, and observed a similar storm on the planet's south pole in detail 10 times greater than before, thanks to new images from NASA's Cassini spacecraft.

SPACE.com Staff

SPACE.com

Scientists have discovered a giant cyclone swirling on Saturn's north pole, and observed a similar storm on the planet's south pole in detail 10 times greater than before, thanks to new images from NASA's Cassini spacecraft.

The new images, taken in infrared light, reveal for the first time a massive cyclone churning at the north pole, similar to a gigantic storm on Saturn's south pole.

"These are truly massive cyclones, hundreds of times stronger than the most giant hurricanes on Earth," said Kevin Baines, Cassini scientist on the visual and infrared mapping spectrometer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. "Dozens of puffy, convectively formed cumulus clouds swirl around both poles, betraying the presence of giant thunderstorms lurking beneath. Thunderstorms are the likely engine for these giant weather systems."

Researchers think the storms are powered by heat released from condensing water in thunderstorms deep down in the atmosphere, similar to the way condensing water in clouds on Earth powers hurricane vortices.

But unlike Earth's hurricanes, which stem from the ocean's heat and water, Saturn's cyclones have no body of water at their bases. The storms on that planet are locked to Saturn's poles, whereas terrestrial hurricanes drift across the ocean.

Cassini mapped the entire north pole of Saturn in detail in infrared, with features as small as 120 kilometers (75 miles) visible in the images. Time-lapse movies of the clouds circling the north pole show the whirlpool-like cyclone there is rotating at 325 mph (530 kph) — more than twice as fast as the highest winds measured in cyclones on Earth.

Surrounding the cyclone is an odd, honeycomb-shaped hexagon, which itself does not seem to move while the clouds within it whip around at high speeds. Strangely, neither the fast-moving clouds inside the hexagon nor the cyclone seem to disrupt the six-sided feature.

Southern storm

The cyclone on Saturn's south pole has been observed before, but never in as much detail. Earlier images revealed an outer ring of high clouds surrounding a region previously thought to be mostly clear air interspersed with a few puffy clouds circulating around the center. The new images show that the clouds are actually vigorous convective storms that form yet another distinct, inner ring. "What looked like puffy clouds in lower resolution images are turning out to be deep convective structures seen through the atmospheric haze," said Cassini imaging team member Tony DelGenio of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York. "One of them has punched through to a higher altitude and created its own little vortex."

The outer ring of high clouds around the vortex is 2,500 miles (4,000 kilometers) wide, and its clouds cast shadows, indicating they are 25 to 45 miles (40 to 70 km) above the clouds inside the ring. The new images hint at an inner ring about half the diameter of the main ring, and so the actual clear "eye" region is smaller than it appeared in earlier low-resolution images. "It's like seeing into the eye of a hurricane," said Andrew Ingersoll, a member of Cassini's imaging team at the Caltech in Pasadena.

The Cassini-Huygens mission, which has been in orbit around Saturn since July 2004, is a collaboration between NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency.

Video: Saturn's Hexagonal Storm Cassini's Greatest Hits: The Best of Saturn Cassini: Special Report Original Story: Giant Cyclones Seen on Saturn SPACE.com offers rich and compelling content about space science, travel and exploration as well as astronomy, technology, business news and more. The site boasts a variety of popular features including our space image of the day and other space pictures,space videos, Top 10s, Trivia, podcasts and Amazing Images submitted by our users. Join our community, sign up for our free newsletters and register for our RSS Feeds today!

Category: Science, Space & Astronomy |

Comment:

Saturn's Titan has Implications for Understanding of Life Throughout the Galaxy

Thu, 30 May 2008 07:15:00 GMT

posted by starling

NASA's Cassini spacecraft buzzed Titan last month, coming close enough to taste the Saturnian moon's atmosphere. The data acquired has implications for our understanding of life throughout the galaxy, as well as Earth's own past.

The second largest moon in the solar system, Titan has long been of interest for hopeful exobioligists. As the only other body we know of with surface bodies of liquid, complete with nitrogen, methane and complete seasonal weather weather patterns (similar to Earth's). It even has beaches, though you'll need a little more than a swimsuit to visit. Vast bodies of chemicals constantly stirred by wind and wave, heated over a gentle sunlight heat with the occasional dash of articles from Saturn's magnetosphere for spice - a perfect recipe for life. Just like a certain planet you might be familiar with (look down if you forget).

Of course there a few minor differences from our own blue-green globe. There's no oxygen for one thing, but if you think that's a problem then you're guilty of "aerobic respiration prejudice" (don't worry, most multicellular organisms are). It's also really quite amazingly cold - so cold that it has awesomely-named "cryovolcanoes", where boiled (or even just melted) water is enough to set off seismic-level explosions. Again, that's a barrier that's been overcome by homegrown Earth bacteria, so there's no reason it couldn't be managed elsewhere.

Cassini's onboard instruments have detected hydrocarbons containing up to seven carbon atoms. How important is that for life? Here's a hint: molecules with carbon in them are called organic, and those without are inorganic. Carbon is kind of a big deal, and the more (and more complicated) carbon compounds present the further towards the great cosmic chemical cocktail that is "life" you are. Some scientists believe that the Titanian interior, with its greater temperature, could already host microbial life - but it'll be a while before we can check that (unless we get real lucky, and some alien cells get real unlucky, with a cryovolcano eruption). One thing's for sure - the craft is only on the sixth of forty-five planned flybys so we can expect to hear a lot more about this real soon.

PS Yes, it is ironic that we're expecting Titanic lifeforms to be single celled.

Posted by Luke McKinney. Photo Credit: James Estrin/New York Times.

Mars Opposes Saturn Today

Thu, 23 Mar 2007 18:05:00 GMT

posted by kuanyin
Photo: Charles Pfeil

Every two years the aspect of transiting Mars opposition Saturn occurs, a time of potential frustration -- Mars desires to accelerate, and Saturn wants to brake. It's a good time to lay low, avoid arguments, and chill. Saturn is at 18 degrees Leo and Mars is at 18 degrees Aquarius. Guess where my natal Venus is? 18 degrees Leo! Hmmmmm......

"Fortune does not change men. It unmasks them." Suzanne Necker

The Major Moons of Saturn

Thu, 3 Oct 2008 20:25:50 GMT

posted by dc64
Beautiful ringed Saturn, the most recognized planet in our solar system, yet Saturn is not alone, but accompanied by many moons. Here, we will learn able the 6 largest moons of glorious Saturn.