Translate

Friday, December 14, 2012

Probe on Titan Cassini saw the 400-km-long river


Titan is the second largest satellite of the planet in the solar system, taking place after Ganymede. In this satellite contains about 95% of the mass of all the existing satellites of Saturn. Titan - the only moon in our system, which has a dense atmosphere, yet it is only companion, whose surface is almost impossible to see because of the thick layer of clouds.


 The force of gravity on the satellite is about the seventh part of the Earth's gravity. The pressure that is on poverhnosti Titan is about 1.6 raze stronger pressure of Earth's atmosphere the temperature on Titan - 180 ° C. According to the magazine "Market Leader" Titan - it is the most similar to our planet a celestial body. 

Not long ago, scientists were able to get a shot for the first time outside of the Earth found the matter which is in the liquid state. In addition, Titan found the atmosphere, which is similar to Earth's. Earlier this companion already contacted the sensational discoveries, for example, in 2008 there was found underground oceans. Not be ruled out that Titan, not Mars, will be our future abode. Employee’s project called "Cassini" noted extraterrestrial miniature earth of the Nile - this river valley on Titan stretches more than 400 km, from the beginning to the big sea. For the first time on a celestial body was found a large river system. At the same fixed with great resolution. Scientists suggest that the river in the northern polar region of Titan contains liquid hydrocarbons, as its surface as completely as you can understand from radar image amazingly smooth. It also confirms the permanence of its rather dark color. 

Jani Radebe, a specialist of Brigham Young University, located in the United States said that in the river, there are several small short bends, but in general, the relative straightforwardness of the valley suggests that it moves one fault, similar to other major rivers that flow into the southern part of the same sea. Such faults (it's cracked crust of Titan) cannot have anything to do with plate tectonics, but still lead to the discovery of some of the pools, and it is possible to the appearance of the giant of the seas. Titan is also recognized as the only world other than Earth, the surface of which there is a stable liquid. Hydrological cycle on Earth is based on water, and it is based on the Titan hydrocarbons, such as methane and ethane. In the images of the equatorial regions, which were obtained by "Cassini" in the optical region of the spectrum in 2010, were discovered regions that were dark with recent rains. 

In 2008, infrared and optical equipment be mapped spectrometer confirmed that in the southern hemisphere, there is a lake of liquid ethane. Radar picture taken in September 2012 shows the northern polar region of Titan, where there is a river valley that flows into the sea Kraken; it is the size roughly between the Mediterranean and Caspian seas. When it comes to the terrestrial Nile, its length is about 6700 km. Phenomenon, which caused his education, cannot be described simply as follows. Rather will mention that in this case played a role in some regions razlomy. On Titan have seas, rivers and lakes of ethane and methane, as well as mountains, which consist of a large amount of ice. Perhaps around a core of stone, with a diameter of about 3400 km, there are several layers of different types of ice crystallization and possibly, a layer of liquid. Some scientists have hypothesized that there is a global subsurface ocean. 

Comparison of images of the "Cassini" for 2005 and 2007 shows that many of the details of the landscape of Titan were shifted almost 30 kilometers. Since Titan is constantly turned to Saturn particular party, this shift can be explained by the fact that the crust of ice separated from the main mass of the satellite solid liquid layer. Crust shifts can cause circulation of the atmosphere of Titan, which rotates in a single, east, direction and carries bark along. If crustal movements are uneven, it will confirm the version of the existence of the ocean. Perhaps this is an ocean of water, in which ammonia.

No comments: