Recently in the Titan Category

Researchers from Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, have made a new contribution to the ongoing search into the possibility of life on Titan, Saturn's largest moon.

We have studied the pressure and temperature dependence of solubility of nitrogen in methane and ethane using vapor-liquid equilibrium simulations of binary mixtures of nitrogen in methane and ethane for a range of pressures between 1.5 atm and 3.5 atm and temperatures between 90 K and 110 K, thermodynamic conditions that may exist on the Saturn's moon, Titan.

Conditions on Saturn's moon Titan suggest dust devils, which are convective, dust-laden plumes, may be active.

Titan has an abundance of lakes and seas, as confirmed by Cassini. Major components of these liquid bodies include methane (CH4) and ethane (C2H6); however, evidence indicates that minor components such as ethylene (C2H4) may also exist in the lakes.

The complex organic chemistry harbored by the atmosphere of Titan has been investigated in depth by Cassini observations.

Thanks to the Cassini spacecraft onboard instruments, it has been known that Titan's ionospheric chemistry is complex and the molecular growth is initiated through the photolysis of the most abundant species directly in the upper atmosphere.

Scientists studying the weather and climate of Titan, Saturn's largest moon, have reported a significant seasonal variation in its energy budget - that is the amount of solar energy absorbed by the celestial body and the thermal energy it emits.

The first map showing the global geology of Saturn's largest moon, Titan, has been completed and fully reveals a dynamic world of dunes, lakes, plains, craters and other terrains.

The Cassini/Composite InfraRed Spectrometer (CIRS) instrument has been observing the middle atmosphere of Titan over almost half a Saturnian year.

Titan is unique in the solar system as it hosts a dense atmosphere mainly made of N2 and CH4. Cassini-Huygens revealed the presence of an intense atmospheric photochemistry initiated by the photo-dissociation and ionization of N2 and CH4.