Titan images befuddle scientists

After staying up much of the night analysing the first close-up images of Titan’s smog-shrouded surface, groggy scientists admitted tha...

After staying up much of the night analysing the first close-up images of Titan’s smog-shrouded surface, groggy scientists admitted that they were befuddled by much of what they were seeing of Saturn’s strange moon. Was that ice on top of the continent-sized landmass they’ve named Xanadu? Were the dark patches along its western boundary a gasoline slush? What are the clouds doing at the south pole? And where is the methane coming from?

‘‘We’re still mystified and not quite sure what we’re looking at,’’ Cassini mission scientist Carolyn Porco said. ‘‘There isn’t much we’re definitely confident about.’’

Assembled at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the team of scientists presented some early findings from Cassini, which passed within 745 miles of the second largest moon in the solar system.

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There were fewer clouds than expected, though the ones they found covered as much as 600 miles of territory.

More unusual organic compounds were found in the upper atmosphere than expected, including benzene, diacetylene and propyne, making Titan’s atmosphere one of the most diverse in the solar system. With all the hydrocarbons in the atmosphere, it would be a very flammable place if there were any oxygen.

Nitrogen is the largest constituent of the atmosphere, just as on Earth, which is why many scientists think Titan is a good model for what early Earth was like.

The scientific team also believes that the moon has lost three-quarters of its original atmosphere, though they don’t know whether it happened gradually or all at once through some sort of cataclysmic event. There also is evidence that certain atmospheric compounds are being replaced, possibly through leakage from a giant underground methane lake.

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One of the few conclusions from the pictures was that the surface is remarkably free of impact craters. That means any asteroid or meteorite strikes are being covered up, possibly by flowing liquid of some type. But scientists have yet to find proof any fluid exists on the surface. —LAT-WP