Mystery object in lake on Saturn's moon Titan intrigues scientists

So there are tides on titan, that's pretty cool. I wonder what the life form experiencing a liquid methane high tide would look like. NASA needs bigger cameras.

a reply to: Kratos40

Looking at the two pictures, it looks like the level of the lake is changed, from one to the other. Meaning, whatever is visible (and it looks like rock to me) is now under the lake surface too far to be seen in the pater picture.

a reply to: KnowledgeSeeker81
Tides indeed. Just as it is tides which would keep the waters of Europa liquid beneath its sheet of ice. Tides which cause the rocks to grind and produce heat.

originally posted by: BoovDawg

originally posted by: PrinceRupertsDog
a reply to: intrptr.

Off the subject, Google FOOF if you're interested in very scary explostions at very cold temperatures.

what the hell man it just came up with something about sniffing bicycle seats!? :-/

I think he meant this: FOOF
I can't find any videos of such experiments, though.

originally posted by: Phage
a reply to: KnowledgeSeeker81
Tides indeed. Just as it is tides which would keep the waters of Europa liquid beneath its sheet of ice. Tides which cause the rocks to grind and produce heat.

I wish we would explore Europa more in depth, its what only 6 miles of ice til ocean right? Far from a simple task, but we definitely have the tech to do it. Would give a great insight to our current search theories of water = life.

Also about the Titan image, do you think that's something that is a common occurrence, or did we capture a solstice type tide?

a reply to: Kratos40

Liquid nitrogen doesn't sublimate... CO2 sublimates from a solid to a gas, but liquid Nitrogen turning to nitrogen gas is what we refer to as boiling my friend, and I imagine it is no more intriguing than watching water boil.

a reply to: KnowledgeSeeker81

Also about the Titan image, do you think that's something that is a common occurrence, or did we capture a solstice type tide?

There isn't really a "solstice type" tide. While the Earth is a bit closer to the Sun on the winter solstice than the summer, the influence of the Moon is much greater. We see a very, very slight increase in tides (depending on the phase of the Moon) in winter but no "solstice tides".

Because Titan is so much further from the Sun than the Earth is any tidal effects of the eccentricity of Saturn's orbit would not have a noticeable effect. In any case, Saturn is not at perihelion. That happened about 10 years ago.

a reply to: Phage
By solstice type tide I meant more along the lines of a regular interval period. With what we know could the influences of other celestial bodies cause this? I mean, we get gravity, but we don't, so if it seems like gravity we say it's gravity. Could this be more of an eccentric orbit of the moon to its planet that we just don't understand relative to Jupiter's gravity? If this is normal we shouldn't notice it, but it's not normal to our standards of education on the subject, and we noticed it. This stuff fascinates me to learn more, I want to understand it all

a reply to: KnowledgeSeeker81
We know very well how gravity behaves. The fact that Cassini reached and is wandering around the Saturn system demonstrates that. If we didn't, Cassini would not have given us the images we are discussing.

We know very well how gravity causes tides. The fact that my tide chart tells me when I should move my boat demonstrates that.

There is every indication that Titan is seeing a change of seasons. Not much reason to think that there has been an occurrence of unusual tidal activity.

originally posted by: Ph.age
a reply to: KnowledgeSeeker81


There is every indication that Titan is seeing a change of seasons. Not much reason to think that there has been an occurrence of unusual tidal activity.

Do you think there is bacteria, or maybe some whales swimming in the Europan oceans, sorry to go off topic.

As far as Titan, its pretty much a methane filled environment right? Life as we know wouldn't last (unless it was subterranean life)

Appreciate your responses Phage!

a reply to: KnowledgeSeeker81

Do you think there is bacteria, or maybe some whales swimming in the Europan oceans, sorry to go off topic.

I think Europa is one of the best options in the Solar System for extraterrestrial life but I can't go so far as to say that I think it is there.

originally posted by: Phage
a reply to: KnowledgeSeeker81

Do you think there is bacteria, or maybe some whales swimming in the Europan oceans, sorry to go off topic.

I think Europa is one of the best options in the Solar System for extraterrestrial life but I can't go so far as to say that I think it is there.

Picking your brain, you said you can't THINK life may be there, what if it is? What would your reaction to that be? (don't say hmm yep life)

a reply to: Kratos40

I don't understand all of the technical aspects of the conversation going on previously but to me it simply looks like they snapped the pictures at different times of the day. The second picture has more light, revealing more characteristics of the ground below.

originally posted by: QuietSpeech
a reply to: Kratos40

I don't understand all of the technical aspects of the conversation going on previously but to me it simply looks like they snapped the pictures at different times of the day. The second picture has more light, revealing more characteristics of the ground below.

But it's not a photo. It's a radar image. The different appearance of the terrain may be due to the radar's angle, particular radio frequency they used, or some other technical factors. A radar doesn't capture light, it captures radio waves that bounce off the surface. Darker areas are smooth, lighter areas are rugged or uneven.

a reply to: KnowledgeSeeker81

Picking your brain, you said you can't THINK life may be there, what if it is? What would your reaction to that be? (don't say hmm yep life)

I didn't say I can't think it.
My reaction, I can guess, would likely be delighted amazement...with a slight undertone of surprise.

originally posted by: Kratos40

Scientists are investigating a mystery object that appeared and then vanished again from a giant lake on Titan, the largest moon of Saturn. They spotted the object in an image taken by Nasa's Cassini probe last year as it swung around the alien moon, more than a billion kilometres from Earth. Pictures of the same spot captured nothing before or some days later.

Mystery object in lake on Saturn's moon Titan intrigues scientists

So an entire 12 mile long island was there then disappeared. Very intriguing. We have yet to understand the fluidics of hydrocarbons under extreme low temperatures. I work with liquid nitrogen and it's fascinating to see it look like water in liquid form and then sublimate into the environment. I believe Titan holds many mysteries and will probably be the next place we explore and pillage for a hydrocarbon resource once we bleed out the Earth.

If we can pillage Titan for hydrocarbons we probably won't be needing hydrocarbons because whatever power source we use to get there fast would be equally capable of powering stuff on Earth.

originally posted by: Phage
a reply to: KnowledgeSeeker81

Do you think there is bacteria, or maybe some whales swimming in the Europan oceans, sorry to go off topic.

I think Europa is one of the best options in the Solar System for extraterrestrial life but I can't go so far as to say that I think it is there.

If NASA had the budget I'm sure we'd have an Icey Moons trinity of missions to investigate Europa, Titan and Enceladus. Right now there's talk of a Europa lander, a Titan boat/submarine and an Enceladus orbiter.

Whether any of these gets fully funded to launch remains to be seen.

To me this stuff is far more interesting than manned spaceflight (which to be honest can probably be done with private companies now).

Wow! Thanks for the memories. I haven't read that book in 20 some years. I will have to revisit. Just like I'm revisiting some of of Isaac Asimov's books. Starting with the robot series then re-visiting the Foundation series.

a reply to: wildespace

Interesting, but how can decent sized piece of land be so uniform in matter? In some of the earlier passes, Cassini should have showed a partial print of this "island".

a reply to: JadeStar

We shall see JadeStar. How things are run on this globe, the big corporations will continue the status quo. Unfortunately, they create the rules and run the business.