Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Caves in Titanium?

Titanium is a fascinating world where the methane plays the same role as the water in the Earth, including the sceneries sculpted one. From the landing from the probe Huygens in 2005, there remained clear the presence of forms created seemingly by the action erosiva of liquids.
Now, scientists of the team of the probe Cassini, working in collaboration with fans of unmannedspaceflight.com, have discovered what there might be areas kársticos in this moon of Saturn. The areas kársticos take place in the Earth when the water dissolves entire rock layers, creating spectacular sceneries with hills, vales and tables. The area of Titanium where these sceneries have been is named a Sikun Labyrinthus (78th South, 29th West) and, up to the date, it has constituted the whole puzzler since it was possible to observe for the first time in the images of radar obtained by Cassini. Of course, there are differences with our planet: instead of water, the causative liquid of the erosion is a miscellany of methane and ethane - with a stickiness different from that of the water, while the "rocks" are formed probably by water ice covered by a layer of organic substances, for not speaking about the bajísimas temperatures. On the other hand, the presence of areas kársticos, although exciting, it does not stop being a hypothesis that futures sobrevuelos of the Cassini it might reveal false.
Nevertheless, in the Earth, the areas kársticos are characterized for having big number of caves, what does that I wonder...: will there be caves in Titanium?

Recreation in 3D of Sikun Labyrinthus (JPL/NASA).


Sikun Labyrinthus in an image of radar of the Cassini (JPL / basket / Mike Malaska).

Cycle of the methane in Titanium (NASA).

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