Titan's Smooth Surface Baffles Scientists 319
JazMuadDib writes "Scientists expected a few rough spots when their space drone snapped close-range images of Titan, Saturn's largest moon. Instead, the planetlike moon appears to have a bizarre, mysteriously smooth surface, and Tuesday's images have left them in a state of wonder. Read more at the Tucson Citizen." NASA's Cassini pages have a wide assortment of images and analysis. Cassini's data has already thrown scientists for loop.
Not quite as the summary says (Score:4, Insightful)
Here's the quote: Because of the global haze layer, Porco says, "we do not see shadows on the surface of Titan. And because we don't see shadow, we can't look at an image and immediately deduce what's up and what's down." There could be massive mountains and deep valleys there, or the surface could be completely flat. At this point, there's no way to tell.
Also, the interesting thing about Titan is that the cloud cover which should be methane seems to be composed of something else, altogether. Particles such as ethane and even polystyrene have been suggested as possible cloud particles. But until further investigation, it only seems to be that our initial theories of methane clouds were off the mark.
Excellent news!! (Score:5, Insightful)
Sensationalism (Score:4, Insightful)
If the Huygens mission is successful we'll know more
They didn't quite say it was smooth... (Score:2, Insightful)
Another nifty bit was that the methane clouds don't seem to be methane.
Obviously, Titan picnicers have been shredding their plastic foam coffee cups, and the winds have whipped them aloft....A Little Perspective (Score:5, Insightful)
Sure, this sort of thing has happened before - there was the first (and last) picture from the surface Venus, the first image of the far side of the moon, etc. I hope we haven't gotten too accustomed to it, at least not yet. I think we are amazingly fortunate to be able to see and know things that no one before could possibly have known. There is something there. Some people will think it's boring. "It's just rocks and mush," they'll say. But I think it's special. It's a place. It's an actual, real, physical place that is up there, just out of reach until now.
No amount of desire or commitment (or for that matter luck) could have revealed it to our fathers, or their fathers, or their fathers. No matter how badly they might have wanted to know it, it was hidden from them. They had to guess, or fantasize, or just live with the mystery. But we get to see it. We are the first.
And the best part about the universe is, there's always more to see just around the next corner.
Re:Excellent news!! (Score:2, Insightful)
so you got a smooth landscape... (Score:3, Insightful)
maybe it just wants to be different.
Re:so you got a smooth landscape... (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:so you got a smooth landscape... (Score:5, Insightful)
A major collision with a large planetoid is the main requirement (imparting a huge amount of heat), and a means of keeping this energy in the core, so that at least the central part of the planet/moon remains semi-liquid. Otherwise everything would just cool down and become a solid lump.
Titan is believed to be heated by gravitation stress from Jupiter, if not from the magnetic field as well. There could also be natural fission.
It is going to be interesting to see if there is enough liquid to partially or completely cover the surface (oceans/continents, marshy areas, complete ocean with high waves/frozen poles).
Re:I must be missing something.... (Score:2, Insightful)
Is it just me... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:A Little Perspective (Score:5, Insightful)
1. Since Titan is a moon and since it appears dead (so far), then - like our moon - there wouldn't be a lot of geological shifts (ie: Mountains, valleys, active volcanoes, and the like).
2. Since Titan has an atmosphere (unlike our moon), and since the particles in atmospheres tend to erode things over time (and how many millions or billions of years has this been going on?) it is likely that the reason there aren't large mountains, valleys, and the like is because if #1 is true, then - unlike our world - there hasn't been geological activities going on for a long time and any mountains have been worn down and any valleys have been filled.
3. Given #1 and #2, then you would wind up with a nearly smooth surface over the entire planet - given enough time.
As has already been said in the report - the lights near the southern pole are up for grabs. It is likely that, similar to our planet's poles, the radiation bombaring Titan is concentrated on or near the poles. Especially the pole which is pointed more towards the sun. So the lights could just be the same types of lights we get here in our far northern and southern realms.
And now for speculation:
1. The lights could be some form of life or an indication of life or civilization. More likely something along the lines of plankton. Plankton can sometimes emit light also. Before the seas were harvested for seaweed, polluted, etc... there were tales/stories by those who plied the seas about the entire ocean glowing (which would make it somewhere around a 20 mile across area which glowed). This would make it possible that, given no higher order creatures eating the light emitting air plankton, that they could be hundreds of miles across.
As for the lighter/darker areas if the darker areas are oil areas then it is the largest oil spill ever. (Just joking!) Really though, it is more likely they are areas of a liquid gas. I only say this because a gas like natural gas usually stays a gas unless the temperature is reduce to the point where the molecules slow down and create a liquid. For all we know, the dark areas could be a highly corrosive substance we've never even run into before. It is also highly likely that no matter what it turns out to be - it will be highly poisoneous to a human being. (I say this only because there are so many naturally occurring substances which are toxic to people in general.)
What would be more interesting would be that we actually find some kind of creatures living on Titan with a different metabolic make-up. Such as silicon (Horta anyone?). That would be the most interesting thing I would think. I also believe that Titan holds a much better chance of containing some kind of life than Mars. This is only because Titan has a bit more atmosphere than Mars and thus has a somewhat better protection against the radiation Saturn and the Sun are throwing at it.
Just my $0.02 worth.
The unexpected makes news. (Score:5, Insightful)
It would be like saying, "Yep, Mars is made of red rock and dust." That's not news, it's olds [digiserve.com]. There are probably heaps of discoveries that aren't brought to our attention because they fit the commonly held assumptions.
The discovery of Titan's flat surface is like the trailer to a movie. It leaves you wanting to know more, wanting to know why. It captures your interest, and so it's considered 'news'.
Although its good (for the type of people that read Slashdot) to know that theories are proven correct, it's just not interesting to the wider populace.
Re:Tucson, Titan (Score:2, Insightful)
UofA will soon be base camp for Most Power Optical Telescope on the Planet, located nearby on Mt. Graham. Which is also home to other telescopes (optical and radio).
UofA is also home base for the design and building of one of the upcomming Mars Probes.
Tucson's County, Pima, is home to the most strict dark sky's lighting standards in the developed world.
Re:Tucson, Titan (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:clickable link to radar data... (Score:1, Insightful)
Re:Not quite as the summary says (Score:5, Insightful)
with the radar data there are no peaks of valleys over 50 meters
In hindsight I suppose this should not have been surprising.
Still there is still the possibility of glacial deposits and some worn river valleys I guess. But its the dark areas that interest me ... they really do look like an ocean or a sea or a really big tar pit. hmmmm. Its going to be interesting.
Re:A Little Perspective (Score:4, Insightful)
1. Atmosphere. The atmosphere around Titan helps to reduce craters just like it does here on Earth.
2. Saturn. Saturn's gravity well sucks asteroids and other debri into it thus protecting Titan.
3. Volume. The distance between Saturn and the asteroid belt is almost ten times as great as the volume between the asteroid belt and the Sun. That's a lot of space. So again, since Saturn is huge and Titan is like a dot against Saturn - it is more likely that Saturn would get hit than Titan.
4. Incorrect. The heat of a planet may or may not play a part in life forming. We are biased by what we know but we know so little that life could be as simple as the heat generated by the impact of one asteroid. After all, there is enough energy generated by it.
Re:Is it just me... (Score:3, Insightful)
This is not a statement about the nature of scientists.
This is a statement about the media and its journalistic integrity or more accurately the lack thereof.
After many months or years of preparations the scientists do not have ready sound bites for the shocked, mystified and befuddled journalists who in turn project their own inadequacies on the scientists.