Ontario Lacus - Lake of liquid hydrocarbons on Titan supposedly confirmed

[Philotas]

<p>From SDC; observations with VIMS&nbsp; made the confirmation possible.</p><p>"""</p><p>[...]</p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial">Possible evidence for lake-like features came from radar images, but this method can't distinguish between liquid and very fine gravel or other tiny solids, Brown explained. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial">"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.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><strong><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial">Titan lake</span></strong></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial">Soderblom, Brown and their colleagues used the infrared abilities of Cassini's visual and infrared mapping spectrometer, or VIMS, to peer through Titan's cotton-ball-like veil of hydrocarbons that extends more than 620 miles (1,000 km) above the moon's surface. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial">The measurements showed three features of the lake structure: the shoreline, or the outer edge of the lake; the so-called beach just inside the shoreline, which could be a sort of "bathtub ring" of material left behind as the ethane mixture evaporated; and the lake's interior, which appears dark, the researchers say.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial">"It seems to have partially evaporated, and that makes sense because the south pole has just gone through summer," Brown told <em>SPACE.com</em>. "The maximum evaporation will have already occurred or is in the process of occurring."</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial">He added, "There's still a lot of liquid left in that lake, and we don't think it's going to evaporate much further."</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial">[...]</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial">""""</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial">http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/080730-titan-lake.html</span></p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[h2ouniverse]

<p>Hi </p><p>The radar signatures were already quite convincing. With a reservation though: the signature was so perfect that the smoothness of the reflective surface had to be better than glass. Without even a wavelet over several kilometers...</p><p>So is the mystery really solved?</p><p>&nbsp;</p>

 

[Philotas]

Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>Hi The radar signatures were already quite convincing. With a reservation though: the signature was so perfect that the smoothness of the reflective surface had to be better than glass. Without even a wavelet over several kilometers...So is the mystery really solved?&nbsp; <br />Posted by h2ouniverse</DIV><br /><br />Hello, I forgot to specify that this is the albedo feature on the south pole that was first spotted in images from the ISS. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[h2ouniverse]

Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>Hello, I forgot to specify that this is the albedo feature on the south pole that was first spotted in images from the ISS. <br />Posted by Philotas</DIV><br /><br />Btw they say it's the first confirmed liquid body outside Earth but aren't there lakes of liquid sulphur on Io?

 

[silylene old]

<p><BR/>Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>Btw they say it's the first confirmed liquid body outside Earth but aren't there lakes of liquid sulphur on Io? <br />Posted by h2ouniverse</DIV></p><p>Quite correct,&nbsp;there are confirmed long-duration lakes of molten sulfurous compounds within a couple of the big calderas on Io.</p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature" align="center"><em><font color="#0000ff">- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -</font></em> </div><div class="Discussion_UserSignature" align="center"><font color="#0000ff"><em>I really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function.</em></font> </div> </div>

 

[3488]

<p><BR/>Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'><font color="#ff0000">Btw they say it's the first confirmed liquid body outside Earth but aren't there lakes of liquid sulphur on Io? <br />Posted by h2ouniverse</font></DIV></p><p>Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'><font color="#ff0000">Quite correct,&nbsp;there are confirmed long-duration lakes of molten sulfurous compounds within a couple of the big calderas on Io. <br />Posted by silylene</font></DIV></p><p><strong><font size="2">Yes indeed, you are both correct. </font></strong></p><p><strong><font size="2">Io has at least&nbsp;Loki Patera & Tupan Patera as molten sulphurous long duration exposed lakes.</font></strong></p><p><strong><font size="2">Ontario Lacus though is also very exciting. I think it's a hydrocarbon lake in either an impact crater of a hydrocarbon&nbsp;Maar Lake.</font></strong></p><p><strong><font size="2">That areas needs to be SAR'd again.</font></strong></p><strong><font size="2">Andrew Brown.</font></strong><strong><font size="2"> </font></strong> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080">"I suddenly noticed an anomaly to the left of Io, just off the rim of that world. It was extremely large with respect to the overall size of Io and crescent shaped. It seemed unbelievable that something that big had not been visible before".</font> <em><strong><font color="#000000">Linda Morabito </font></strong><font color="#800000">on discovering that the Jupiter moon Io was volcanically active. Friday 9th March 1979.</font></em></p><p><font size="1" color="#000080">http://www.launchphotography.com/</font><br /><br /><font size="1" color="#000080">http://anthmartian.googlepages.com/thisislandearth</font></p><p><font size="1" color="#000080">http://web.me.com/meridianijournal</font></p> </div>