Fog on Titan

The confirmation of fog on Titan marks the direct evidence of an active hydrological cycle on a moon or planet outside of Earth, which means according to Caltech Astronomer Mike Brown, "streams and pools and erosion and geology."

Methane is to Titan what water is to the earth. It’s a common component in the atmosphere and, at the temperature of Titan, it can exist in solid, liquid, or gas form. Like water on the earth, it forms clouds in the sky. Like water on the earth, it probably even forms rain. But what we don’t know is whether or not that rain makes it to the surface and pools into ponds or streams or lakes which then evaporate back into the atmosphere to start the cycle over again. In short, we don’t know if Titan has an active methane atmosphere-surface hydrological cycle analogous to the water atmosphere-surface hydrological cycle on the earth.

Until now.

The image above was created by Brown and his colleagues from data returned by Cassini, which has been exploring Saturn and its moons since 2005.

Wayne

Credit: Mike Brown/Caltech