Titan's atmosphere

[marcusfizer]

http://www.space.com/images/041026_cassini_titan_02.jpg

 

[marcusfizer]

I wonder if it could be huge volcano to throw up lava on Titan because I notice very bright area in the middle named Xanadu. I read that scientists still do not know what it is.

 

[claywoman]

Okay I'm sorry here...but looking at that picture of Titan. The strong white patch in the middle looks almost like a hurricane or larger then any I've seen here on earth. If you study the photo, you can see an 'eye.' Or am I wrong here? But to me, its a storm obliterating the surface of the planet except for the dark patches...

 

[centsworth_II]

The dark and light features are pretty much all land features. Clouds -- apart from the global smog -- have been fairly rare, except at the south pole (I don't know about the north pole). All those features -- especially around the landing site -- have been imaged several times, at increasing resolution, and can be seen to be definite, real, surface features. But what the light and dark areas are made of and how rough or smooth they are, no one knows... yet.<br /><br />Note: Clouds, when they have been seen, have been very bright, even in relation to the bright land areas. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[bobvanx]

If the animation of the Huygens descent and data link is accurate, they'll be descending when the shadows are long enough that they'll be able to pick up the surface topography.<br /><br />I can hardly wait to see how the light/dark relates to hills/valleys!

 

[centsworth_II]

I don't think there will be very definite shadows. I think that sunlight will be so scattered by the thick layer of smog that it will appear to come from all areas of the sky. Imagine the shadowless look of a landscape on Earth under overcast skies. Now imagine the flat, colorless, shadowless look of a landscape at twilight. Now combine the two. It could be difficult to decipher topography in the images, even in clear shots, given the lighting conditions. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[bobvanx]

>>sunlight will be so scattered<br /><br />Could be, could be!<br /><br />I'll be glued to the computer all Friday afternoon, slavering over any images they choose to release

 

[thalion]

^<br />Agreed. If the early images of Titan are any indication, I think topography will be no less subdued in the DISR images than in those from orbit. Hopefully I'll be proven wrong, though.

 

[centsworth_II]

I have high hopes for clear, detailed images, with lots to look at. I just think reading them may be difficult. <br /><br />This is nothing new. I've seen Mars images where a misreading of shadows can cause one to think they see a depression when the true feature is elevated from the surface. <br /><br />A lack of deep shadows may remove one visual clue to the topography but even scattered light will not reach all surfaces equally, depending on the degree of roughness. And hopefully close ups of the surface, after the 20 watt lamp is illuminated will give a good look at the surface structure, on a small scale, for one small part of Titan. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[newtonian]

OK, Science channel now is discussing this and other images.<br /><br />The comment on this image was:<br /><br />White: ice continents.<br /><br />Dark: hydrocarbon oceans, perhaps ethane.

 

[newtonian]

Steve - Hi!<br /><br />Well, clown or not:<br /><br />There is evidence from the sound echos of liquid laden clouds many kilometers up in the atmosphere. <br /><br />It is theorized there may be ethane rain.<br /><br />One picture showed what looked like river systems and a sea.<br /><br />Only, I noticed the rivers seemed to start near the sea and flow away from it - strange!<br /><br />Anyway, I see there is some evidence for periodic [dry beds which flow intermitently] ethane rivers - or some other hydrocarbon that would become liquid somewhere between 170C and 210C, preferably near or slightly above 180C.<br /><br />Anyone know the condensation points (or triple point, etc.) of methane and ethane, etc.?

 

[roy10]

What chemically are the "complex hydrocarbons" that have been detected in Titan's upper atmosphere?<br />If we were made aware of their nature, we might be able to deduce their possible sources.

 

[JonClarke]

Tholins are a given, judging from stuff I heard earlier this week. Huygens identified complex organics up to C7 in the clouds, including N-bearing compounds. More later.<br /><br />Jon <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><em>Whether we become a multi-planet species with unlimited horizons, or are forever confined to Earth will be decided in the twenty-first century amid the vast plains, rugged canyons and lofty mountains of Mars</em>  Arthur Clarke</p> </div>

 

[alokmohan]

Can it give to life in long run,I mean astrobiology point of view?

 

[CalliArcale]

Theoretically, the answer is probably "yes". Whether it actually does, or will, is an entirely separate question, of course. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><font color="#666699"><em>"People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly . . . timey wimey . . . stuff."</em>  -- The Tenth Doctor, "Blink"</font></p> </div>

 

[JonClarke]

There is a distinct possibility of a water-ammonia ocean bneath the crust of Titan, so life is not impossible at some depth, although the surface is too cold and the carbon isotope ratios measured by Huygens are indicative of chemistry, not biology.<br /><br />Jon <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><em>Whether we become a multi-planet species with unlimited horizons, or are forever confined to Earth will be decided in the twenty-first century amid the vast plains, rugged canyons and lofty mountains of Mars</em>  Arthur Clarke</p> </div>

 

[djtt]

methane is fluid at -200 so rivers are plausible<br />you are free to laugh when someone mentions hydrogen rivers

 

[3488]

Hydrogen rivers would flow at Minus 270 Celsius, only 3 Kelvin. Even Pluto, Triton & 2003 UB313 are not that cold. <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>