First outside of Earth: NASA finds liquid lake on Titan

by William Atkins

Friday, 01 August 2008

Page 1 of 3 ! NASA announced on Wednesday, July 30, 2008, that it has observed—for the first time ever in the solar system (other than on Earth)—a liquid body on the surface of a celestial object--in this case, Saturn’s moon Titan. NASA scientists have concluded that at least one of Titan’s lakes contains liquid hydrocarbons (an organic compound solely consisting of hydrogen (H) and carbon (C)). Thus, Titan contains the only large, stable body of surface liquid known to exist anywhere in our solar system, other than good-old planet Earth. In addition, the NASA scientists also identified the presence of ethane, a specific type of hydrocarbon, on Titan. Ethane (an alkane) is a chemical compound of carbon and hydrogen, with a chemical formula of C2H6--that is, two carbon atoms and six hydrogen atoms. On Earth is is a colorless, ordorless gas at standard temperature and pressure. Specifically, the liquid-methane-and-ethane lake is called Ontario Lacus. Located in the south polar region of Titan, the largest moon of Saturn, Ontario Lacus was first discovered in December 2007 during a flyby of the Cassini spacecraft. Ontario Lacus is approximately 7,800 square miles (20,200 square kilometers) in area, which is comparable to the surface area of Lake Ontario in North America of Earth. Ontario Lacus was named after Lake Ontario because of its similar size. Cassini interdisciplinary scientist Larry Soderblom (U.S. Geological Survey, Flagstall, Arizona) states, “Detection of liquid ethane confirms a long-held idea that lakes and seas filled with methane and ethane exist on Titan. The fact we could detect the ethane spectral signatures of the lake even when it was so dimly illuminated, and at a slanted viewing path through Titan's atmosphere, raises expectations for exciting future lake discoveries by our instrument." [NASA news release, see page two] Soderblom adds, "During the next few years, the vast array of lakes and seas on Titan's north pole mapped with Cassini's radar instrument will emerge from polar darkness into sunlight, giving the infrared instrument rich opportunities to watch for seasonal changes of Titan's lakes.” [NASA news release, page two] See an artist’s drawing of Ontario Lacas lake on the next page. << First page <   1 2 3 Next page > Last page - Post your comment >>

 

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