APOD: Titan's Land of Lakes (2013 Dec 20)

[APOD Robot]

Titan's Land of Lakes

Explanation: Saturn's large moon Titan would be unique in our solar system, the only world with stable liquid lakes and seas on its surface ... except for planet Earth of course. Centered on the north pole, this colorized map shows Titan's bodies of methane and ethane in blue and black, still liquid at frigid surface temperatures of -180 degrees C (-292 degrees F). The map is based on data from the Cassini spacecraft's radar, taken during flybys between 2004 and 2013. Roughly heart-shaped, the lake above and right of the pole is Ligeia Mare, the second largest known body of liquid on Titan and larger than Lake Superior on Earth. Just below the north pole is Punga Mare. The sprawling sea below and right of Punga is the (hopefully sleeping) Kraken Mare, Titan's largest known sea. Above and left of the pole, the moon's surface is dotted with smaller lakes that range up to 50 kilometers across.

<< Previous APOD

This Day in APOD

Next APOD >>

[/b]

[neufer]

. http://asterisk.apod.com/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=32605

[Ann]

"Below the thunders of the upper deep
Far, far beneath in the abysmal sea
His ancient, dreamless, uninvaded sleep
The Kraken sleepeth."

--Tennyson
"The Kraken"

That's a great poem. I had never heard of it, so thanks for making me read it.

As for cryovolcanoes, though, are there really any evidence of them on Titan? Is Titan a geologically active world which is recycling itself through the means of volcanoes (on top of its hydrological cycle), or is it just a Callisto with weather?

Ann

[neufer]

As for cryovolcanoes, though, are there really any evidence of them on Titan? Is Titan a geologically active world which is recycling itself through the means of volcanoes (on top of its hydrological cycle), or is it just a Callisto with weather?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titan_%28m ... _mountains

[Guest]

Given that it is a geologically active body, and that there must be some sort of flowing liquid (methane and ethane instead of water), I wonder what the possibility of existence of sedimentary rock. Perhaps folded and faulted... Would be interesting to find out.

[neufer]

Given that it is a geologically active body, and that there must be some sort of flowing liquid (methane and ethane instead of water), I wonder what the possibility of existence of sedimentary rock. Perhaps folded and faulted... Would be interesting to find out.

• I was presuming that those were sedimentary rocks
  
  In situ image of Titan's surface from Huygens—the only image
  from the surface of a planetary body outside the inner Solar System.

[Psnarf]

Sure hope my heart is in better shape than Ligeia Mare!

[JuanAustin]

Suffice it to say..., "NO SMOKING!" on Titan!

[geckzilla]

Suffice it to say..., "NO SMOKING!" on Titan!

Because it would be impossible to light up?

(or is that an urban legend?)

[Chris Peterson]

Suffice it to say..., "NO SMOKING!" on Titan!

No problem. It's not a flammable atmosphere. Smoking would be difficult, since it wouldn't support an open flame.

[geckzilla]

I seem to remember something about being able to briefly ignite a match until the oxidizing agent runs out but I can't seem to find it anywhere.

[(a+b)^3head]

This may be a blockhead question but I'm curious nonetheless - Does Titan have seasons? And, as -180 degrees C is close to the melting point of methane, do the lakes and seas of Titan freeze and thaw?

[Ron-Astro Pharmacist]

When we send another probe to Titan I would hope it included some way to explore under the surface of the ethane/methane lakes. Maybe it could be dubbed “The Yellow Moon Submarine ?” Lots of ideas out there as noted on Wiki’s Titan page that Ann posted the link to earlier.

by Chris Peterson » Fri Dec 20, 2013 9:20 am

JuanAustin wrote:
Suffice it to say..., "NO SMOKING!" on Titan!
No problem. It's not a flammable atmosphere. Smoking

Perhaps we only need to send the oxidizer; using the moons own resources as fuel. : The Huygens Hybrid

[JohnD]

"Below the thunders of the upper deep
Far, far beneath in the abysmal sea
His ancient, dreamless, uninvaded sleep
The Kraken sleepeth."
--Tennyson
"The Kraken"

That's a great poem. I had never heard of it, so thanks for making me read it.
Ann

Yes, but the Kraken is a pussy cat next to Grendel!
"But the truth
Is simple: no man swims in the sea
As I can, no strength is a match for mine"
Beowulf

Is there nowhere for Grendel on Titan?
Don't quote me a pitiful machine gun from something called "Blacklight Wiki" - Grendel is so much more.

JOhn

[neufer]

Is there nowhere for Grendel on Titan?

• 1) Kraken Mare looks like a kraken...i.e., a giant squid.
  
  2) Grendel is not a sea monster and we don't know what she looked like.

[Ann]

In Swedish, "krake" (an old-fashioned word") means a pitiable person or animal. "Kraken" would mean "the krake". The sarcastic birthday card here says, "You've grown so old... Congratulations, you poor krake"".

Another Swedish "krake" is a fantasy animal that is a little girl's imaginary friend.

Ann

[JohnD]

neufer,
You confuse Grendel with his mother, an equally fearsome and destructive thing, although in the likeness of a woman. She nearly defeated Beowulf!

Ofsæt þa þone selegy(st), 7 hyre sea[x] geteah,
brad, brunecg. Wolde hire bearn wrecan,
angan eaferan. Him on eaxle læg
breostnet broden; þæt gebearh feore,
wið ord 7 wið ecge ingang forstod.

"She straddled her hall-visitor and drew her broad, bright-edged knife.
to avenge her son, her only child.
But on his shoulder was braided mail;
that saved his life, it stopped both point and edge."

She isn't well-described, this monster-mother, warrior-slayer, but she sure didn't look like Angelina Jolie. For a start her skin was so thick that even Hrunting, Beowulf's borrowed sword, can't cut it. Only a giant's magic weapon can do that, and even that is destroyed when Beowulf uses it on Grendel.

Of course, its this lack of definition that make "Beowulf" all the more effective, Like radio instead of film or TV, the pictures are better!
John

[Boomer12k]

Maybe there is good Methane Fishing....I wonder....you put a base there....ship up the Methane to a station and use it for cooking and heating and stuff on a spaceship....or is that too far fetched???

Titan is an interesting place....

:---[===] *

[Boomer12k]

Suffice it to say..., "NO SMOKING!" on Titan!

As Mythbusters would say...."No proper Fuel to Air Mixture ratio".....

However....you should be able to siphon it off into a tank on the ship and use it for cooking and heating, I would think....

I think they did an episode on that...

:---[===] *