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The atmosphere of Titan is the dense layer of gases surrounding Titan, the largest moon of Saturn.Titan is the only natural satellite of a planet in the Solar System with an atmosphere that is denser than the atmosphere of Earth and is one of two moons with an atmosphere significant enough to drive weather (the other being the atmosphere of Triton). [4]
In September 2006, Cassini imaged a large cloud at a height of 40 km over Titan's north pole. Although methane is known to condense in Titan's atmosphere, the cloud was more likely to be ethane, as the detected size of the particles was only 1–3 micrometers and ethane can also freeze at these altitudes
It is possible that the methane ice could float for a time as it probably contains bubbles of nitrogen gas from Titan's atmosphere. [27] Temperatures close to the freezing point of methane (90.4 K; −182.8 °C; −296.9 °F) could lead to both floating and sinking ice - that is, a hydrocarbon ice crust above the liquid and blocks of ...
"Titan is really an Earth-like world with a diverse set of very familiar surface morphologies shaped by a methane-based hydrologic system operating in a dense nitrogen atmosphere," said Cornell ...
Synthetic aperture radar image mosaic of Titan's north polar region. Vid Flumina is a river system (termed Flumen) of liquid methane and ethane on Saturn's moon Titan.It is more than 400 km (249 mi) long and flows into Titan's second largest hydrocarbon sea, Ligeia Mare. [1]
In the latter case, ethane-poor liquid hydrocarbon would be the equivalent of terrestrial freshwater (Titanian precipitation is mainly methane). [6] In addition to ethane, Titan's atmosphere produces a wide range of more complex photochemical products, such as nitriles and benzene. These are believed to precipitate out and flow into Titan's seas.
Astronomers believe the mysterious “magic islands” on Saturn’s moon Titan are honeycomb-like frozen clumps of organic material that fall like snow on the moon.
Atmospheric methane creates a greenhouse effect on Titan's surface, without which Titan would be much colder. [73] Conversely, haze in Titan's atmosphere contributes to an anti-greenhouse effect by absorbing sunlight, canceling a portion of the greenhouse effect and making its surface significantly colder than its upper atmosphere.