Bizarre Luminescence On Titan!

We’ve seen luminous craters on the Moon in John’s Moon threads and Zorgons Clementine Moon pics, which have not been explained so far. But what does one make of weird glowing areas on Titan, the largest moon of Saturn, and the only moon known to have a dense atmosphere?

Here are some of the pics taken by Cassini which are pretty intriguing, but not explained by NASA so far.

Is it bio-luminescence? Or is it just tricks of light like a lens flare or some sort of glitch? The area seems to be lit up like a search light from above, but the shapes are pretty peculiar!

Titan is the only object other than Earth for which clear evidence of stable bodies of surface liquid has been found. So is this reflection of surface liquids? But reflection of what?

Also check out the four small lighted dots toward the upper right of the second image.

Can anyone figure out what this is all about?


S17/W00012864


S17/W00012875


S17/W00012853

Cheers!

All images courtesy JPL/NASA
saturn.jpl.nasa.gov...

An obvious, (unidentified flying object.) do we have probes in that area of space now..? I don’t think so and if we did, they don’t look like that. If that pic is showing the place that it is meant to be showing, then it is an alien of some sort, whether it is organic or artificial.

Not impossible it's this, taken from the Cassini FAQ:


What are the ghostly lights?
When the cameras take an image of something like a moon with a very bright Saturn just out of view, light shining from the planet can reflect off parts of the inside of the camera and onto the sensor. The inside of each camera is coated with a black non-reflective substance to minimize this scattered light. Still, some light does get in and the result can be rays or large fuzzy circles of light.

Originally posted by Dipstick
Still, some light does get in and the result can be rays or large fuzzy circles of light.

But these aren't circles. They're weird shapes. And what about those four small lighted 'dots' in the second image? Reflected light from Saturn cannot produce this effect.



[edit on 30-10-2007 by mikesingh]

Mmm. Maybe. They're not circles it's true. If I were writing that faq I think the spirit of thing would mean "blobs", but I take your point.

Spots of light - usual old lens flare?

Anyway, not a very strong argument I agree, so roll on the other ideas!

What does NASA say about these lights?

Originally posted by elusivetruth
What does NASA say about these lights?

Nothing so far! But needless to say, they will offer all kinds of explanations except probably swamp gas!!

It looks to me like the light source is on or near the surface, if you look at the way the surrounding surface object are reflecting the light. It could be anything, possibly some glowing gas of some sort. There doesn't appear to be any solid objects in the photos, unless of course they are invisible.

Originally posted by mikesingh

Originally posted by Dipstick
Still, some light does get in and the result can be rays or large fuzzy circles of light.

But these aren't circles. They're weird shapes. And what about those four small lighted 'dots' in the second image? Reflected light from Saturn cannot produce this effect.

[edit on 30-10-2007 by mikesingh]

This picture you are showing here clearly shows impact craters. The "lighted dots" you are asking about is most likely the material that caused the craters (meteorites or debris) reflecting strong light.


Here is a diagram to better illustrate this point:





The curious thing about this image is the fact that there are two different light sources, depicted by image 2. I cannot explain this, but it leads me to conclude that there is something more here than meets the eye. Whether it has been doctored or there is in fact a secondary light source remains to be seen...

Interesting find none the less.

Originally posted by 1nL1ghtened
The curious thing about this image is the fact that there are two different light sources, depicted by image 2. I cannot explain this, but it leads me to conclude that there is something more here than meets the eye. Whether it has been doctored or there is in fact a secondary light source remains to be seen...

Interesting find none the less.

Good illustration 1nL1ghtened! That's the point. The multiple light sources. And what about the first three images in the opening post? What do you make of it?

mikes,
Another interesting post. Truely weird shapes. Why does everyone think maybe its a UFO..I think maybe its a UFO base..

these pics are in b&w which leads me to believe we are seeing at least somewhat outside the visible spectrum. these could easily be heat anomalies or impact debris that doesn't match the characteristics of the moon. i don't see anything here that warrants a fuss. =)