A new study of radar experiment data from the Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn has yielded fresh insights related to the makeup and activity of the liquid hydrocarbon seas near the north pole of Titan, the largest of Saturn's 146 known moons.
A new study of radar experiment data from the Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn has yielded fresh insights related to the makeup and activity of the liquid hydrocarbon seas near the north pole of Titan, the largest of Saturn 's 146 known moons.
Valerio Poggiali, research associate at Cornell University, is lead author of"Surface Properties of the Seas of Titan as Revealed by Cassini Mission Bistatic Radar Experiments," which will publish July 16 at 11am EST inA bistatic radar experiment involves aiming a radio beam from the spacecraft at the target -- in this case Titan -- where it is reflected toward the receiving antenna on Earth.
Their analysis found differences in the composition of the hydrocarbon seas' surface layers, dependent on latitude and location . Specifically, the southernmost portion of Kraken Mare shows the highest dielectric constant -- a measure of a material's ability to reflect a radio signal. For example, water on Earth is very reflective, with a dielectric constant of around 80; the ethane and methane seas of Titan measure around 1.7.
"This fits nicely with meteorological models for Titan," said co-author and professor of astronomy Philip Nicholson,"which predict that the 'rain' that falls from its skies is likely to be almost pure methane, but with trace amounts of ethane and other hydrocarbons."
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