When you buy through our articles links, Future and its syndication partners can earn commissions.
For decades, Saturn Titan focused on experts because its atmosphere has a strange tilt. ; | Credit: NASA/JPL/Arizona University
For many years, scientists have been intrigued by the strange “wave” in the atmosphere of Titan, the greatest moon of Saturn. Now, new studies reveal clues about strange tilt of the titanium atmosphere, but this also makes new secrets.
Cassini mission data Saturn that showed this, unlike Earth’s atmosphereThe Titan atmosphere does not turn synchronously with its surface. Instead, it tilts and shifts like a rotating top that changes its orientation in seasons.
“Titanium atmospheric tilting behavior is very strange,” Lucy Wright, the main author of the new research and post -ctoral researcher at UK Bristol University School a statement; “We believe that some past events may have shot the atmosphere from their back axis, so it shocked.”
Infrared view of Moon Titan, showing surface details through its atmospheric haze | Credit: NASA/JPL/Arizona University/Aidaho University
Scientists believed that tilt direction would be influenced by Saturn’s gravity or sun position, as is often the case in planets – meaning it will change as Titan Orbited Saturn and the Sun. However, observations indicate that the tilt direction does not move. Instead, it remains just as if it would not affect those external forces.
This conclusion was unexpected. If the heating of the sun or the severity of Saturn has controlled tilting, it should move over time. Seems to be Planetary Science Journal;
“It would have gave us clues for this reason,” said Nick Teanby, a planetary scientist at the University of Bristol, says a researcher at the planets at the University of Bristol. “Instead, we have a new secret on our hands.”
Titan is the only moon in the solar system, of course it has a large atmosphere. It consists mainly of nitrogen and contains complex organic molecules, making it a scientifically important object in subjects such as atmospheric processes and prebiotic chemistry.
Related stories
-Saturn’s Moon Titan can have a 6-mile methane ice crust-would there be life?
—They liquid on titanium, Saturn’s largest moon. But something is missing and scientists are embarrassed
– Saturn’s Big Moon Titan may exist in a “single life” but find it difficult
Since 2004 Until 2017 NASA’s Cassini spacecraft was closely monitored by Titan, revealing important changes in its atmosphere, such as constant tilt in the middle layers and appearance and extinction of rotating winter polar swirls.
This new understanding of Titan atmosphere wobbler is important to future nasa Dragonfly missionwhich is scheduled to arrive in the 2030s. Because Titan winds are much faster than its surface rotation, knowing how the atmosphere shifts with the seasons will help engineers more accurately plan Dragonfly landing and landing.
“Our work shows that there are still amazing discoveries that need to be made in the Cassini archive,” says NASA’s “Goddard Space” flight center Planetary Scientist Conor Nixon. “This instrument, partly built in the UK, traveled through the solar system and continues to provide us with valuable scientific return.
“The fact that the Titan atmosphere behaves like a rotating top, disconnected from its surface, raises charming questions – not only for the Titan, but also to understand atmospheric physics, including the Earth,” Nixon added.