FIRST they said there were seas of liquid hydrocarbons. Then they said there were none. Now, maybe there鈥檚 a lake full of the gooey gunk. A company prospecting for oil? No, just NASA dithering over whether liquid hydrocarbons exist on the surface of Saturn鈥檚 largest moon, Titan.
Until recently, many scientists expected the methane in Titan鈥檚 atmosphere to come from seas, or even an ocean, of liquid hydrocarbons on the moon. And when NASA鈥檚 Cassini spacecraft arrived at Titan earlier this year and released the Huygens probe, many were hoping for a splashdown. Instead, Huygens landed on solid ground, and Cassini failed to spot the kind of reflections expected of a liquid surface as it flew by the moon.
Then Cassini spotted what NASA scientists believe is a giant methane-spewing volcano on Titan. Finally, there was an explanation for where the atmospheric methane came from.
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But hang on: Cassini鈥檚 infrared cameras have now peered through the dense clouds surrounding Titan鈥檚 south pole and found a kidney-shaped blob that looks like a lake. Its perimeter resembles the shorelines of lakes on Earth, smoothed by water erosion and deposition. The Cassini team said last week that this is the strongest candidate yet for a source of liquid hydrocarbon on Titan.
鈥淭his is the strongest candidate yet for a source of liquid hydrocarbon on Titan鈥�
Cassini has 39 more fly-bys planned for Titan, so expect more twists in this oily tale.
