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Titanic Saturn 97
barakn writes "Using the Crab Nebula as an x-ray source, scientists have observed Titan's x-ray shadow to get a preliminary estimate of the extent of its outer atmosphere. On the same page, another article discusses the possibility that the hydrocarbon seas of Titan bear waves, albeit slow-moving and widely spaced, 7 times higher than waves on Earth (additional wave links here, here, and here). And Cassini-Huygens has snapped a photo of Saturn showing "two small, faint dark spots" in the southern hemisphere (this link has convenient arrows pointing at them, or here). Cassini-Huygens will achieve Saturn orbit insertion on July 1st. Huygens will detach and enter Titan's atmosphere in January, 2005."
The Sirens of Titan (Score:2, Funny)
2) If we do meet friends, we're hoping they're sirens. I call the redhead.
Re:The Sirens of Titan (Score:2)
Re:color me ignorant, but... (Score:1)
Re:color me ignorant, but... (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:color me ignorant, but... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:color me ignorant, but... (Score:1)
Re:color me ignorant, but... (Score:2, Informative)
Not really. The energy it would take to bring a pound of hydrocarbons back to Earth from Titan is likely much more than you'd get from burning it.
(30 km/sec is equivalent to 450 MJ/kg; burning gives about 10 MJ/kg).
Re:color me ignorant, but... (Score:1)
Re:color me ignorant, but... (Score:2)
I suspect we'll genetically engineer organisms that produce hydrocarbons long before it becomes cheap enough to import it from off-planet.
Perhaps we will find that useful when we have more advanced spacecrafts (that doesn't depend on fossil fuels)?
And just exactly how do modern spacecraft depend on fossil fuels?
Re:color me ignorant, but... (Score:1)
One dip in the market, and it's "Cancel that Space stuff, we all gotta go invade some other country in the name of God and more oil! "
Hey, how hard can it be to fudge the cassini data to show significant crude oil reserves? That's get the space program the funding it deserves !
Re: Spacecraft and fossil fuels (Score:1)
It would not surprise me if some "modern" rockets also use kerosine.
Re:color me ignorant, but... (Score:4, Insightful)
If by "important", you mean "discovery of indicators of something I can either talk to or eat", it's not important. Almost certainly, nothing Cassini produces will be important according to that definition. You may as well stop paying attention now.
Re:color me ignorant, but... (Score:2)
Re:color me ignorant, but... (Score:3, Insightful)
Because it's just interesting. That's all. People want to know. Why do you read post on slashdot? Probably because of the same reason.
Re:color me ignorant, but... (Score:3, Funny)
Huge waves! Titan is going the surfers paradise of the future!
Re:color me ignorant, but... (Score:1)
Re: Methane Surfers (Score:1)
Imagine: You're surfing the perfect wave, then your board hits a frozen body.
In you go, adding to the problem.
Data points! (Score:5, Interesting)
So that means waves on Titan and spots on Saturn.
This boils down to fluid dynamics, energy exchange, and chaos.
This also means it applies to helicopters, airplanes, submarines, cars, drip irrigation systems, washing machines, tornado prediction, and the lottery!
Re:Data points! (Score:2, Funny)
Don't tell that to the local news/meteorologist in my neighborhood:
"For the most accurate, up to date, team coverage that affects your life: Turn to the most dependable weather station in the area!" These guys really understand the weather! I mean, they're right almost 51% of the time!
Re:color me ignorant, but... (Score:2, Funny)
The arrows are because they prove that there is an intelligent life on Saturn.
4 big arrows like those can't be caused by a natural phenomenom.
Duh... (Score:2)
Didn't you know that a Halliburton subcontractor designed Windows XP's 'Bliss' wallpaper for Microsoft? Dick Cheney himself designed 'River Sumida' for Windows NT.
Re:color me ignorant, but... (Score:2)
-Sean
A thick atmosphere in low gravity? (Score:5, Insightful)
Inquiring minds want to know: how does Titan keep its thick atmosphere in such low (15% of Earth) gravity?
-Teckla
Re:A thick atmosphere in low gravity? (Score:5, Interesting)
It's because titan is much farther away from the sun than earth and therefore much colder.
The point at which the loss of atmosphere becomes significant is when a sizeable amount of the atmosphere's molecules have escape velocity due to their temperature. Maybe mars lost it's atmosphere that way.
Try, e.g. "celestia" a free universe simulator to get a picture of the distances in the solar system.
Re: (Score:1)
Re:A thick atmosphere in low gravity? (Score:2, Informative)
Mars is just far enough away from the sun that the CO2 from its atmosphere started to condense into the rocks and water (which was present at the time this was happening), this caused the temperature to lower, causing more CO2 to go away, lowering the temp and so on.
This also explains why Venus has a thick hot atmosphere.
You can find more if you google for it.
Re:A thick atmosphere in low gravity? (Score:1, Interesting)
Re:A thick atmosphere in low gravity? (Score:2)
Re:A thick atmosphere in low gravity? (Score:2, Interesting)
Titan is cold, its atmosphere's molecules slow and heavy.
It possibly was ejected in its formative phase containing a lot of volatile elements which replenish it as it goes.
It may participate in a gas torus cycle with Saturn where the atmosphere stripped by solar winds is fed into Saturn's orbit for potential later return to Titan.
Re:A thick atmosphere in low gravity? (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:A thick atmosphere in low gravity? (Score:5, Informative)
Second of all, we have yet to observe any Titan-torus, last I heard. (About two weeks ago, a comment made from one of the Cassini principle investigators.) If there's so much gas there, why can't we see it?
Finally, the reason Titan can hold a thick atmosphere is, as some already stated, because it's so bloody cold. You can do the simple atmospheric calculations and show that at the tempertures of Titan, it can hold that atmosphere pretty nicely.
A good place to look for details is _The New Solar System_, Beatty, Petersen, and Chaikin, editors.
Re:A thick atmosphere in low gravity? (Score:2)
Re:A thick atmosphere in low gravity? (Score:2)
Re:A thick atmosphere in low gravity? (Score:1)
Why does small matter? Because g falls off as distance squared. On a small moon of given mass, the force of gravity at the surface will be greater than on a moon of the same mass but larger radius (i.e, less dense).
Re:A thick atmosphere in low gravity? (Score:1)
Re:A thick atmosphere in low gravity? (Score:1)
Re:A thick atmosphere in low gravity? (Score:1)
Because Titan sucks.
Mimas RULES BAY-BEE!!
That's no moon! It's a space station. Oh wait. It's a moon. Nevermind.
"Titanic Saturn" (Score:4, Funny)
(Sorry!)
Re:"Titanic Saturn" (Score:1)
Re:"Titanic Saturn" (Score:1)
d/dt(Karma): Negative
Re:"Titanic Saturn" (Score:3, Funny)
Re:"Titanic Saturn" (Score:1)
Please tell me that's not a real profession but something you made up for the joke?
Re:"Titanic Saturn" (Score:2)
Re:"Titanic Saturn" (Score:1)
I have not indeed read it. I never got past the Vogon silliness.
Of all the interesting moons in this solar system (Score:3, Funny)
Hydrocarbon seas. Could there be interest here by the oil industry? Makes you wonder...
Re:Of all the interesting moons in this solar syst (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Of all the interesting moons in this solar syst (Score:3, Interesting)
Physicists are interested in planets like Jupiter, chemists can leaarn allot from planets like Titan. Mars has plenty to keep geologists, and physical geographers happy. And they all have plenty to amuse meteorologists, SETI buf
Re:Of all the interesting moons in this solar syst (Score:1, Offtopic)
Re:Of all the interesting moons in this solar syst (Score:1)
Now that you mention it, I happen to have some right here, in my ass.
Re:Of all the interesting moons in this solar syst (Score:5, Interesting)
Dude, do you have any idea what you're talking about? If we could import oil from the outer solar system at anything resembling a reasonable price, we wouldn't need oil.
Re:Of all the interesting moons in this solar syst (Score:1)
Re:Of all the interesting moons in this solar syst (Score:2, Interesting)
Anyway, IIRC there are some future missions on the drawing board intended exclusively for Europa.
Oily sludge (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Oily sludge (Score:1)
Life imitates art? (Score:5, Interesting)
Hogan's a clunky, dated writer, but it's an entertaining read. And if Huygens mysteriously fails on the surface next year...
Re:Life imitates art? (Score:1, Informative)
Saturn simply looks cool (Score:4, Interesting)
I know this could prolly be considered off topic, but I was just struck by the pictures of the planet and I wonder how, when so many dazzling images of space exist, can anyone act so ambivalent about space programs? It just doesn't make sense to me.
Oh and was I the only one who pictures a bizzare version of The Perfect Storm when reading about those waves, a more boring movie with less waves and it takes longer to climb each one. I think Hollywood should begin pre-production in May.
Re:Saturn simply looks cool (Score:1)
I think you're on to something! Imagine, we could send Bruce Willis, George Clooney, and Mark Walhberg into space to harvest ethane in titan's oceans. They all get caught in the 70-80ft waves and die. I think it would sell pretty well.
Go, Koji, Go (was Re:Saturn simply looks cool) (Score:2)
I agree! Actually, I have always found Saturn to be absolutely beautiful -- I have a tattoo of it on my right arm.
On an unrelated topic, I know the guy who did the X-ray shadow observations. If you asked me who among the people I know is least likely to wind up on the front page of /., I would have guessed Koji.
See also ESA's article (Score:1, Interesting)
Cassini probe's Blog (Score:4, Interesting)
Anthropomorphized space probe's blogs started in January, and got more popular last month when some JPL'ers started ones for the GOES and FUSE satellites.
Here [sophont.com] is a list of 14 active space probe's blogs.
Why are major "storms" in souther hemisphere? (Score:2)
Why are Saturn's dark spot, Jupiter's Great Red Spot, El Nino, etc., all in the southern hemishperes of their respective planets? It really dosn't make sense.
Re:Why are major "storms" in souther hemisphere? (Score:3, Informative)
Jupite
Hidrocarbons (Score:1)
Copying an old experiment (Score:4, Informative)
Oil on Titan? (Score:1)
How do we charge them? (Score:2)
A spokesperson from the Chandra X-Ray Telescope team said "The folks on Titan are remarkable similiar in general construction, to human beings, except the have 5 arms, are 10 feet tall, and seem to sit around drinking a hydrocarbon beverage." The spokeperson went on to say that we here on Earth, may well have the interplanetary X-Ray market sewn u
For those with Celestia (Score:1)
Re:For those with Celestia (Score:1)
cel://Freeflight/2004-04-02T05:37:38.73188?x=AI
Re:For those with Celestia (Score:2)
I couldn't get your link to work, even with revisions, but the view from around Saturn's satellites is just gorgeous.
Perhaps it's not the sole job of future probes to get us better textures for Celestia, but it'll be a nice side-effect :)
For those without Celestia - do yourself a favor and download it! [shatters.net] It's one of the best-feeling 'space exploration' simulators I've encountered, and you can't beat the price ;)
Now, all we need is this as the base engine for Elite III: More Stars Than You Can Shake A Pr
I missed Titan's Smile (Score:2)