Saturn’s moon, Titan could be Earth’s double

For the scientists, Saturn has always been a planet of interest, the biggest attraction being its rings. A lot of research has already been done on the rings But recently the researchers at the University of London has found something more interesting about Saturn. Apparently, Saturn’s moon Titan is a lot more like Earth than was previously thought. According to a new study, the scientists were able to understand that due to the interactions between Titan and the solar magnetic and radiation, hydrocarbons are created. Also the nitriles were observed to be blown away in the space from its polar regions, which is very similar to the wind that blows on the polar regions of Earth.

Screenshot from Video: NASA / YouTube

The scientist observed that the gas from the atmosphere of Titan was being driven by a widespread polar wind. Focused and intensive study of this wind helped the scientists understand the planet better. The availability of the data achieved through the international probe Cassini also helped the scientists. This data was collected over the course of seven years starting in 2004. Till now, it has made 23 flybys through the atmosphere of Titan. This information that was received through the Cassini’s Plasma Spectrometer (CAPS) first indicated that a magnetic field interaction was going on there. The surface of Titan is rocky with a thick atmosphere. It is also a said to be the only natural satellite in the solar system to have rivers, rainfall and seas.

Scientists all over the world have been trying to study and understand Saturn, its ring and its satellites for a long time and this study reveals much. Andrew Coates, commented “Titan’s atmosphere is made up mainly of nitrogen and methane, with 50 percent higher pressure at its surface than on Earth. Data from CAPS proved a few years ago that the top of Titan’s atmosphere is losing about seven tons of hydrocarbons and nitriles every day, but didn’t explain why this was happening.” The presence of hydrocarbons indicates the presence of methane. The water that is available at Titan is liquid methane which is also known as natural gas. Due to the surface temperature being at -180 degree Celsius, Earth-water would be only in frozen form there. It can also be deduced from the findings of the study that Titan resembles the frozen state of Earth billions of years ago.