Scientists have experienced this Far Moon Experience the air as the earth, forming a cloud that destroys the rain surface.
If that were the case would do that Titan The only other world of the solar system that has in common with the planet of our home. Now the researchers have another understanding that Titan is the greatest 274 known Saturno moonsHas a climate cycle similar to what is happening on Earth.
Catch: Instead of evaporating and filling Titan lakes and oceans with water, the moon is likely to be a cold, greasy methane.
Using two powerful telescopes – James Webb Space Telescope And the Keck II telescope in Hawaii – astronomers watched the clouds emerged and then climbed above the titanium in the sky, which is about 880 million miles away. space; For the first time, they saw clouds rotating in the north, where there are the big moon lakes and the sea at the end of the summer tail.
The discovery of cloud convection strengthens the theory that these surface fluid bodies similar to the big lakes in the US are complementary in the rain, perhaps similar to how summer storms work on Earth. Team research appears in the magazine Nature astronomy.
“Methane clouds changing and changing close to titanium northern poles, we were able to have found large seas and methane lakes in the region where the Cassini spacecraft discovered,” said Conor Nixon, a NASA Research scientist and main author of a document a statement;
See too: Nasa Rover first captures Aurora from Mars surface
To imagine dust storms in a distant lunar titan
Saturn’s largest Titan is brutally cold and covered with yellowish -struck. Credit: NASA / ESA / IPGP / Labex Univets / University Paris
Titan is Strange worldat -300 degrees by Fahrenheit, and disguised in a yellowish smog. Like the earth, the atmosphere is usually nitrogen.
Scientists are interested in Titan because, despite the brutally cold temperature, it seems to have an organic Ingredients for life – At least the species people know about. Whether the moon has any microbial aliens Dragon; The mission has just accepted an overview of a critical design, phase This means that engineers can start building a spacecraft. A helicopter-like robot is expected to visit the moon in the 2030s.
New Webb’s observations indicate that in the summer of the titanium northern hemisphere clouds can rise above and can be promoted from heat from the sun – Like the storms of the earth.
Scientists have previously seen such a cloud activity, but never in the north. This is most important because it shows that the northern part of the methane and ethane Sea is part of the process that supports the Titan atmosphere. On earth, those chemicals are gas but freezing in titan like gasoline On the earth.
The artist Dragonfly spacecraft rendering
The Dragonfly mission was on stage when engineers can start building a helicopter -like spacecraft. Credit: NASA / JOHNS HOPKINS PP / Steve Gribben Illustration
With different types of light filters, two telescopes helped astronomers to determine how high the clouds were drifting. The lowest part of the sky on earth – Troposphere – About 7.5 miles rise, but the same layer on Titan increases to 28 miles, thanks to the moon’s lower gravity.
Webb found something new: a small, fast -moving molecule called methyl radical in the atmosphere of titanium. This molecule is ephemeral, so its detection shows that chemical reactions occur in the lunar sky. Similar molecules are associated with the chemical origin of life on Earth.
“It is possible that (methane) is constantly being prepared and is distinguished by the interior of the crust and interior over the billion years,” Nixon said. “If not, things will eventually be gone, and Titan will usually become the world of dust and dunes.”
Webb and Keck Telescopes are studying Saturn Moon Titan
Two telescopes – Webb and Keck II – helped astronomers determine how clouds were drifting. Credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / STSCI / KECK Observatory
Although the clouds discovered indicate that it may touch in Titan, the rainfall has not really been overlooked. The team is planning further research to find out how the weather models are changing, especially during that period after Equinox this month.
Over time, Titanium air could disappear if it somehow does not change the moon. If this happens, Titan could lose its atmosphere and become something more like Mars;
“For the first time, we see a chemical cake while it rises in the oven,” says Ca groundith stefanie Milam, “instead of only starting flour and sugar ingredients, and then the last, icy cake.”