Could Titan Be Older Than Saturn?
The hint comes in the form of a ratio. All elements have a certain number of known isotopes — variants of that element with the same number of protons that differ in their number of neutrons. The ratio of one isotope to another isotope is a crucial diagnostic tool.
In planetary atmospheres and surface materials, the amount of one isotope relative to another isotope is closely tied to the conditions under which materials form. Any change in the ratio will allow scientists to deduce an age for that material...
"When we looked closely at how this ratio could evolve with time, we found that it was impossible for it to change significantly," Mandt said in a press release. "Titan's atmosphere contains so much nitrogen that no process can significantly modify this tracer even given more than four billion years of Solar System history."
Like what you see? Follow our WhatsApp channel for more.
Trending Now
Neighbor takes resident's parking spot and tells her to park somewhere else instead, he gets towed: 'He came banging on my door yelling about how I am heartless for not just parking somewhere else'
01
'He fumbles, repeats himself, and starts sweating’: CEO steals sole credit for his employee's work, then he gets burned in an international meeting when she refuses to help him answer questions about ‘his program’
02
Boss demands to have meetings at employee's house instead of the office, leading him to visit her late at night, until she asks him to stop: ‘Last night I saw his car parked at my driveway’
03
New neighbor requests to come into to couple's home to watch TV, then spends the night staring from across the lot with his friends: ‘Feels odd that they felt comfortable to figure out which door was ours, and ask to come inside OUR space’
04
Entitled camper cuts line of elderly shoppers at grocery store, other customer gets even by takes away his butane gas: 'I paid for my stuff including his butane, and walked away'
05