Posted on 12/21/2013 6:53:05 AM PST by SunkenCiv
Explanation: Saturn's large moon Titan would be unique in our solar system, the only world with stable liquid lakes and seas on its surface ... except for planet Earth of course. Centered on the north pole, this colorized map shows Titan's bodies of methane and ethane in blue and black, still liquid at frigid surface temperatures of -180 degrees C (-292 degrees F). The map is based on data from the Cassini spacecraft's radar, taken during flybys between 2004 and 2013. Roughly heart-shaped, the lake above and right of the pole is Ligeia Mare, the second largest known body of liquid on Titan and larger than Lake Superior on Earth. Just below the north pole is Punga Mare. The sprawling sea below and right of Punga is the (hopefully sleeping) Kraken Mare, Titan's largest known sea. Above and left of the pole, the moon's surface is dotted with smaller lakes that range up to 50 kilometers across.
(Excerpt) Read more at 129.164.179.22 ...
[Credit: Cassini Radar Mapper, JPL, USGS, ESA, NASA]
Very cool....literally.
If these hydrocarbons are present there, could there be more complex ones (like crude oil) beneath the surface and if there are does that belie the conjecture that the Earth’s crude reserves are the result of decomposition of living things?
Gradualists (and they’re not the only ones) fit that old joke about, when your only tool is a hammer, all problems look like nails.
Where’s the closest hotel?
Titan must have some bad-ass sailors to sail on methane seas.
Motel six. East St. Louis.
24,765 per night - double occupancy.
Methane won’t catch on fire without oxygen, right?
Or will the first robots sent there be testing this theory?
At sea level here on Earth, you need two molecules of Oxygen for one molecule of Methane for combustion. You also need a temperature of 1100-1200 degrees to get the reaction going.
Is that 24,765 Bitcoins per night?
Galactic Credit Standard
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