However, there is little evidence of formation of palimpsests through viscoelastic crustal relaxation, unlike on other large icy moons. At this temperature water ice has an extremely low vapor pressure, so the atmosphere is nearly free of water vapor.
The giant moon isn't alone in this behavior; other moons among the 150 known moons in our solar system are also slowly distancing themselves from the planets they orbit, including our own moon. He named it simply Saturni Luna (or Luna Saturni, Latin for "Saturn's moon"), publishing in the 1655 tract De Saturni Luna Observatio Nova. Because ice is less dense than water, Titan's watery magma would be denser than its solid icy crust.

These scientists think that there might be a form of life inside this ocean.

The strength of the reflection saturated the probe's receiver, indicating that the lake level did not vary by more than 3 mm (implying either that surface winds were minimal, or the lake's hydrocarbon fluid is viscous).[58][59]. We use the word "eccentricity" to describe the path that a moon or planet travels in. [16] This atmospheric methane conversely creates a greenhouse effect on Titan's surface, without which Titan would be far colder. [52] Following a flyby on July 22, 2006, in which the Cassini spacecraft's radar imaged the northern latitudes (that were then in winter), a number of large, smooth (and thus dark to radar) patches were seen dotting the surface near the pole. ALYSSA NEWCOMB. When the probe arrived in the Saturnian system in 2004, it was hoped that hydrocarbon lakes or oceans might be detectable by reflected sunlight from the surface of any liquid bodies, but no specular reflections were initially observed. In 2009, Nasa showed a photograph showing the sunlight reflecting off the surface of the lake. Horst also found amino acids, the building blocks of protein. Even though it is smaller, Titan is close in size to Ganymede.

Titan is Saturn's largest moon and the second largest in the solar system (after Ganymede of Jupiter). The surface is geologically young; although mountains and several possible cryovolcanoes have been discovered, it is smooth and few impact craters have been found.[4][5].
That the atmospheric methane and nitrogen might be of biological origin has been examined, for example. [2][54] The Cassini–Huygens team concluded that the imaged features are almost certainly the long-sought hydrocarbon lakes, the first stable bodies of surface liquid found outside of Earth. It is the only moon in the solar system with clouds and a dense, planet-like atmosphere. [131], Conditions on Titan could become far more habitable in the far future. This kind of light is called an airglow. The convoluted region is filled with hills and cut by valleys and chasms. On July 8, 2009, Cassini's VIMS observed a specular reflection indicative of a smooth, mirror-like surface, off what today is called Jingpo Lacus, a lake in the north polar region shortly after the area emerged from 15 years of winter darkness. In March 2007, NASA, ESA, and COSPAR decided to name the Huygens landing site the Hubert Curien Memorial Station in memory of the former president of the ESA. [69] This feature is thought to be an impact crater filled in by dark, windblown sediment. If you could jump 1m high on the Earth, you would be able to jump 7m high on Titan. February 16, …

Saturn, the second-largest planet in our solar system, likely formed during the infancy of our solar system 4.6 billion years ago. Titan's surface temperature is about 94 K (−179 °C, or −290 °F). Much as with Venus prior to the Space Age, the dense, opaque atmosphere prevented understanding of Titan's surface until new information accumulated with the arrival of the Cassini–Huygens mission in 2004, including the discovery of liquid hydrocarbon lakes in the satellite's polar regions. [2] The liquid erosion features appear to be a very recent occurrence: channels in some regions have created surprisingly little erosion, suggesting erosion on Titan is extremely slow, or some other recent phenomena may have wiped out older riverbeds and landforms. It landed on a dry surface, but it confirmed that large bodies of liquid exist on the moon. This was also compared with radio data gathered by Cassini over the course of 10 flybys of Saturn between 2006 and 2016. Frequently described as a planet-like moon, Titan has a diameter roughly 50% larger than Earth's moon and is 80% more massive. Through the years, lots of other moons have been discovered and today the moon is known as "Titan" or as "Saturn VI". But the liquid is methane, not water.[5][6]. [41] Titan has been around since the Solar System's formation, but its surface is much younger, between 100 million and 1 billion years old. [13] This is believed to be caused by complex chemical reactions occurring in Titan's atmosphere. Such a violent beginning would also explain Titan's orbital eccentricity. After landing, Huygens photographed a dark plain covered in small rocks and pebbles, which are composed of water ice. An example of "synchronous rotation": the moon takes the same time to orbit around the planet as the planet takes to spin around its own axis. [36] The findings of the Huygens probe indicate that Titan's atmosphere periodically rains liquid methane and other organic compounds onto the moon's surface. [11] The lake of liquid methane has been named Kraken Mare. Titan is the largest moon of Saturn and the second largest in the Solar System. As the young gas giants formed, they were surrounded by discs of material that gradually coalesced into moons. [122][123], Although all living things on Earth (including methanogens) use liquid water as a solvent, it is speculated that life on Titan might instead use a liquid hydrocarbon, such as methane or ethane. Template:Double image [44][45] Examination has also shown the surface to be relatively smooth; the few objects that seem to be impact craters appeared to have been filled in, perhaps by raining hydrocarbons or volcanoes. While the analogy assumes the presence of liquid water for longer periods than is currently observable, several theories suggest that liquid water from an impact could be preserved under a frozen isolation layer. [17] Based on its bulk density of 1.88 g/cm3, Titan's bulk composition is half water ice and half rocky material. Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox.

[34] The moon receives just about 1 % of the amount of sunlight Earth gets.