Washington, September 29 (ANI): A researcher in France has analyzed data of Titan gathered over 30 years and has found that the changing seasons of the Saturn's moon affect it more than previously thought.
Dr. Athena Coustenis from the Paris-Meudon Observatory in France revealed that the atmosphere on Titan changes with its seasons similar to Earth.
"As with Earth, conditions on Titan change with its seasons. We can see differences in atmospheric temperatures, chemical composition and circulation patterns, especially at the poles. For example, hydrocarbon lakes form around the north polar region during winter due to colder temperatures and condensation," Coustenis explained.
"Also, a haze layer surrounding Titan at the northern pole is significantly reduced during the equinox because of the atmospheric circulation patterns. This is all very surprising because we didn't expect to find any such rapid changes, especially in the deeper layers of the atmosphere," she said.
The main cause of these cycles is solar radiation. This is the dominant energy source for Titan's atmosphere, breaking up the nitrogen and methane present to create more complex molecules, such as ethane, and acting as the driving force for chemical changes.
Titan is inclined at around 27 degrees, similar to the Earth, meaning that the cause of seasons-sunlight reaching different areas with varying intensity due to the tilt-is the same for both worlds.
"It's amazing to think that the Sun still dominates over other energy sources even as far out as Titan, over 1.5 billion kilometers from us," Coustenis said.
To draw these conclusions data was analyzed from several different missions, including Voyager 1 (1980), the Infrared Space Observatory (1997), and Cassini (2004 onwards), complemented by ground-based observations. Each season on Titan spans around 7.5 years, while it takes 29.5 years for Saturn to orbit the Sun, so data has now been gathered for an entire Titan year, encapsulating all seasons.
Explaining why it is important to investigate this distant moon Coustenis said: "Titan is the best opportunity we have to study conditions very similar to our own planet in terms of climate, meteorology and astrobiology and at the same time a unique world on its own, a paradise for exploring new geological, atmospheric and internal processes."
Coustenis presented these results at the European Planetary Science Congress in Madrid. (ANI)