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Titan new results: Rain fall, methane rivers, volcanoes spewing very cold ice

Jan 26, 2005 03: 24 EST
Previously published Jan 21, 2005

"We are really extremely excited about these results. The scientists have worked tirelessly for the whole week because the data they have received from Huygens are so thrilling," said Jean-Pierre Lebreton, ESA's Huygens Project Scientist and Mission manager today.
The results of data sent back from Titan show a surface of wet sand with a thin solid crust, volcanoes, islands, rivers, lakes and streams - all embedded in a frigid -180 degrees Celsius orange haze. Top image is a new photo released by ESA today, bottom image is the data rendered in 3D by amateurs.

As promised, Scientists delivered a better view of Titan today.

The first scientific assessments presented today

- Geological evidence for precipitation, erosion, mechanical abrasion and other fluvial activity says that the physical processes shaping Titan are much the same as those shaping Earth.
- Extraordinarily Earth-like meteorology and geology.
- A complex network of narrow drainage channels running from brighter highlands to lower, flatter, dark regions.
- The channels merge into river systems running into lakebeds featuring offshore 'islands' and 'shoals' remarkably similar to those on Earth.
- Strong evidence for liquids flowing on Titan.
- The fluid is methane, a simple organic compound that can exist as a liquid or gas at Titan's sub-170°C temperatures.
- Rivers and lakes appear dry at the moment, but rain may have occurred not long ago.
- Loose sand below surface crust
- Bursts of methane gas boil out of surface material, forming clouds and precipitation
- Small rounded pebbles in a dry riverbed.
- The pebbles are dirty water ice mad rock-like solid by the cold, rather than silicate rocks.
- Titan's soil appears to consist at least in part of precipitated deposits of the organic haze that shrouds the planet. This dark material settles out of the atmosphere. When washed off high elevations by methane rain, it concentrates at the bottom of the drainage channels and riverbeds contributing to the dark areas seen in DISR images.
- Titan has experienced volcanic activity generating not lava, as on Earth, but water ice and ammonia.

Extraordinary Earth-like world operating on exotic materials in very alien conditions

Instead of liquid water, Titan has liquid methane. Instead of silicate rocks, Titan has frozen water ice. Instead of dirt, Titan has hydrocarbon particles settling out of the atmosphere, and instead of lava, Titanian volcanoes spew very cold ice.

"Titan is an extraordinary world having Earth-like geophysical processes operating on exotic materials in very alien conditions," ends ESA the report.

January 14, 2005, ESA's Huygens probe made an historic first ever descent to the surface of Titan, 1.2 billion kilometres from Earth and the largest of Saturn's moons. Huygens travelled to Titan as part of the joint ESA/NASA/ASI Cassini-Huygens mission. Starting at about 150 kilometres altitude, six multi-function instruments on board Huygens recorded data during the descent and on the surface. The first scientific assessments of Huygens' data were presented during a press conference at ESA head office in Paris on 21 January.

Images: Top - latest image from Titan courtesy of ESA, Bottom - Mike Zawistowski's 3D rendering of Titan based on the actual data, created with Terragen.

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