Astronomers Release First Map of Saturn's Moon Titan

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  via Nature

  Titan is the second biggest moon in the Solar System. With a diameter of 3,200 miles, the only moon larger than Titan is Ganymede, Jupiter's moon. Titan is actually larger than the planet Mercury. 

  Titan's map is based on radar, infrared and other data that was collected by NASA's Cassini spacecraft, which studied Saturn and it's moons between 2004 and 2017. 

  Titan has a large amount of carbon-based organic materials on it which are critical for hosting living organisms. This, along with the liquid water beneath Titan's icy crust, leads scientists to believe that life may be - or may have been - possible on Titan. 

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  Titan's climate is different - yet strangely similar - to Earth's climate. While water rains down from clouds into lakes, rivers and oceans on Earth, on Titan clouds spit out hydrocarbons (which are gases on Earth) in liquid forms because of Titan's cold climate. Plains cover 65% of the Titan's surface, and dunes cover 17%. They are made up of frozen methane and hydrocarbons. Rain actually falls on all areas of Titan, except for the equatorial regions.  

  Titan is the only object in the Solar System other than Earth that has stable liquids on it's surface. It boasts seas and lakes of methane, as well as mountainous regions that are thought to represent exposed portions of Titan's crust of water ice, which makes up 14% of it's surface. 

  While there is no bacterium on Earth that can survive just on a hyrdocarbon called acetylene and water, scientists are wondering whether something could live deep in Titan's crust or oceans, where the temperature may be warmer than it is on the surface. 

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  via Curiosity

  We may not have definite answers until at least 2034, when NASA's Dragonfly mission is set to depart. The Dragonfly mission will involve a multi-rotor drone to study Titan's chemistry and suitability for life. Until then, we'll have to keep on trying our luck on other planets and moons. 

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