Titanium- the largest satellite of Saturn and the second largest solar system: photo, size, mass, atmosphere, name, methane lakes, Cassini research.

The Titans ruled the Earth and became the progenitors of the Olympian gods. That is why Saturn's largest satellite was named Titan. It occupies 2nd place in size in the system and exceeds Mercury in volume.

Titan is the only satellite of Saturn endowed with a dense atmospheric layer, which for a long time prevented the study of surface features. We now have evidence of the presence of liquid on the surface.

Discovery and name of the Titan satellite

In 1655, Christiaan Huygens noticed a satellite. This discovery was inspired by Galileo's findings near Jupiter. Therefore, in the 1650s. he began developing his telescope. At first it was called simply the Satellite of Saturn. But later Giovanni Cassini would find 4 more, so it was called by its position - Saturn IV.

The modern name was given to it by John Herschel in 1847. In 1907, Josel Comas Sola tracked the darkening of Titan. This is an effect where the central part of a planet or star appears much brighter than the edge. This was the first signal to detect an atmosphere on the satellite. In 1944, Gerard Kuiper used a spectroscopic instrument and found a methane atmosphere.

Size, mass and orbit of the Titan satellite

The radius is 2576 km (0.404 Earth's), and the mass of Titan's satellite is 1.345 x 10 23 kg (0.0255 of Earth's). The average distance is 1,221,870 km. But an eccentricity of 0.0288 and an inclination of the orbital plane of 0.378 degrees led to the satellite approaching 1,186,680 km and moving away 1,257,060 km. Above is a photo comparing the size of Titan, the Earth and the Moon.

This way you found out which planet Titan is a satellite of.

Titan spends 15 days and 22 hours on an orbital flight. The orbital and axial periods are synchronous, therefore it resides in a gravitational block (one side is turned towards the planet).

Composition and surface of the satellite Titan

Titanium is more dense due to gravitational compression. Its value of 1.88 g/cm3 hints at an equal ratio of water ice and rocky material. The interior is divided into layers with a rocky core spanning 3,400 km. A 2005 Cassini study hinted at the possible presence of a subsurface ocean.

It is believed that Titan's liquid consists of water and ammonia, which allows it to maintain a liquid state even at a temperature of -97°C.

The surface layer is considered to be relatively young (100 million to 1 billion years old) and appears smooth with impact craters. The height varies by 150 m, but can reach 1 km. It is believed that this was influenced by geological processes. For example, on the southern side a mountain range was formed with a length of 150 km, a width of 30 km and a height of 1.5 km. Filled with icy material and a layer of methane snow.

Patera Sotra is a mountain range stretching to a height of 1000-1500 m. Some peaks are endowed with craters and it seems that frozen lava flows have accumulated at the base. If there are active volcanoes on Titan, they are triggered by energy coming from radioactive decay.

Some believe that this is a geologically dead place, and the surface was created due to crater impacts, liquid flows and wind erosion. Then the methane does not come from volcanoes, but is released from the cold lunar interior.

Among the craters of Titan's moon, the 440-kilometer two-zone Minerva impact basin stands out. It is easy to find due to its dark pattern. There is also Sinlap (60 km) and Xa (30 km). The radar survey was able to find crater shapes. Among them is the 90-kilometer Guabonito ring.

Scientists have theorized about the presence of cryovolcanoes, but so far only surface structures with a length of 200 m, which look like lava flows, have hinted at this.

Channels may hint at tectonic activity, which means we are looking at young formations. Or maybe it's an old area. You can find dark areas that are spots of water ice and organic compounds that show up in UV imaging.

Methane lakes of the Titan satellite

Saturn's moon Titan attracts attention with its hydrocarbon seas, methane lakes and other hydrocarbon compounds. Many of them are noted near polar areas. One covers an area of ​​15,000 km 2 and a depth of 7 m.

But the biggest one is the Kraken at the North Pole. The area is 400,000 km 2, and the depth is 160 m. It was even possible to note small capillary waves with a height of 1.5 cm and a speed of 0.7 m/s.

There is also the Ligeia Sea, located closer to the north pole. The area covers 126,000 km 2. It was here in 2013 that NASA first noticed a mysterious object - Magic Island. Later it will disappear, and in 2014 it will appear again in a different form. This is believed to be a seasonal feature created by rising bubbles.

Lakes are mainly concentrated near the poles, but similar formations are also found on the equatorial line. Overall, the analysis shows that lakes cover only a few percent of the surface, making Titan much drier than our planet Earth.

Atmosphere of the satellite Titan

Titan is so far the only satellite in the solar system that has a dense atmosphere with a remarkable amount of nitrogen. Moreover, it even exceeds the earth's density with a pressure of 1.469 kPa.

Represented by an opaque haze that blocks incoming sunlight (reminiscent of Venus). The Moon's gravity is low, so its atmosphere is much larger than Earth's. The stratosphere is filled with nitrogen (98.4%), methane (1.6%) and hydrogen (0.1%-0.2%).

Titan's atmosphere contains traces of hydrocarbons such as ethane, acetylene, diacetylene, propane and methyl acetylene. They are believed to form in the upper layers due to the breakdown of methane by UV rays, which creates thick, orange-colored smog.

The surface temperature reaches -179.2°C because, compared to us, the moon receives only 1% of the sun's heat. At the same time, the ice is endowed with low pressure. If it were not for the greenhouse effect of methane, Titan would be much cooler.

The greenhouse effect is counteracted by fog that reflects sunlight. Simulations showed that complex organic molecules could appear on the satellite.

Hot planetary coronas

Astronomer Valery Shematovich on the study of gaseous shells of planets, hot particles in the atmosphere and discoveries on Titan:

Habitability of the Titan satellite

Titan is perceived as a probiotic environment, possessing complex organic chemistry and a possible subsurface ocean in a liquid state. Models show that adding UV rays in such an environment can lead to the formation of complex molecules and substances like tholins. And adding energy causes even 5 nucleotide bases.

Many believe that there is enough organic material on the satellite to activate a process of chemical evolution similar to that of Earth. This requires water, but life could persist in a subsurface ocean. That is, life can appear on Saturn’s satellite Titan.

Such forms must be able to survive in extreme conditions. It all depends on the heat exchange between the inner and upper layers. The presence of life in methane lakes cannot be ruled out.

To test the hypothesis, several models were created. The atmospheric one shows that in the upper layer there is a large volume of molecular hydrogen, which disappears closer to the surface. Low levels of acitelene also indicate hydrocarbon-consuming organisms.

In 2015, researchers even created a cell membrane that could function in liquid methane under these lunar conditions. But NASA considers these experiments to be hypotheses and relies more on the levels of acitelen and hydrogen.

In addition, the experiments still concerned earthly ideas about life, and Titan is different. The satellite lives much further from the Sun, and the atmosphere is devoid of carbon monoxide, which does not allow it to retain the necessary amount of heat.

Exploration of the Titan satellite

Saturn's rings often overlap the moon, making Titan difficult to find without special tools. But then there is a barrier from a dense atmospheric layer, which prevents us from viewing the surface.

Pioneer 11 first approached Titan in 1979, presenting photographs. He noted that the moon was too cold to support life forms. This was followed by Voyagers 1 (1980) and 2 (1981), which provided information on density, composition, temperatures and mass.

The main information array came from the study of the Cassini-Huygens mission, which arrived at the system in 2004. The probe captured surface details and color spots that were previously inaccessible to human vision. He noticed seas and lakes.

In 2005, the Huysens probe descended to the surface, capturing surface formations up close.

He also obtained images of a dark plain that hinted at erosion. The surface turned out to be much darker than scientists expected.

In recent years, questions have increasingly been raised about a return to Titan. In 2009, they tried to promote the TSSM project, but it was bypassed by the EJSM (NASA/ESA), whose probes will go to Ganymede and Europa.

They also planned to do TiME, but NASA decided that it would be more expedient and cheaper to launch InSight to Mars in 2016.

In 2010, the possibility of launching JET, an astrobiology orbiter, was considered. And in 2015, they came up with the development of a submarine that could dive into the Kraken Sea. But for now this is all at the discussion stage.

Colonization of the Titan satellite

Among all the moons, Titan seems to be the most profitable target for establishing a colony.

Titan has a huge amount of elements that are needed to support life: methane, nitrogen, water and ammonia. They can be transformed into oxygen and even create an atmosphere. The pressure is 1.5 times higher than Earth's, and the dense atmosphere protects much better from cosmic rays. Of course, it is filled with flammable substances, but an explosion requires a huge amount of oxygen.

But there is also a problem. Gravity is inferior to that of the Earth's Moon, which means the human body will have to fight against muscle atrophy and bone destruction.

It is not easy to cope with frost of -179°C. But the satellite is a tasty morsel for researchers. There is a high probability of encountering life forms that can survive in extreme conditions. Perhaps we will also come to colonization, because the satellite will become a starting point for the study of more distant objects and even exit from the system. Below is a map of Titan and high-quality, high-resolution photos from space.

Surface map of the satellite Titan

Click on the image to enlarge it

Photos of the Titan satellite

The Cassini spacecraft approached to a distance of 2 million km on May 29, 2017, to capture the night side of Titan in a photo. This survey was able to highlight the moon's extended atmospheric nebula. During the entire observation period, the device was able to capture the satellite from various angles and obtain a full overview of the atmosphere. The high-altitude fog layer is shown in blue, and the main haze is orange. The difference in color may be based on particle size. Blue is most likely represented by small elements. A narrow-angle camera with red, green and blue filters was used for filming. Scale – 9 km per pixel. The Cassini program is a joint development of ESA, NASA and the Italian Space Agency. The team is located at the JPL. The two cameras on board were also created by them. The obtained photographs are processed in Boulder (Colorado).

The surface of Titan was observed in detail in photographs during the landing of the Huygens probe. But still, most of the area was imaged by the Cassini apparatus. Titan still remains an interesting mystery. This survey shows new territory that was not noted in previous observations. This is a composite image of 4 almost identical wide-angle shots.

Shepherd Companions	· · · ·

Titanium

© Vladimir Kalanov,
website"Knowledge is power".

Dozens of satellites revolve around Saturn. Currently, 53 named satellites are known; about a dozen celestial bodies are “awaiting” confirmation of their flight trajectories for involvement in the satellite system of Saturn. Among them, the largest satellite stands out - Titan, discovered, as is known, already in 1655 by Christian Huygens. In terms of size, Titan ranks second among all the satellites of the Solar System, second only to Ganymede, a satellite of Jupiter. The diameter of Titan is 5150 km, i.e. This satellite is larger in size than the planet Mercury, whose diameter is 4878 km. Titan's orbital period around Saturn is almost 16 days (15 days, 22 hours and 41 minutes). Titan is turned to Saturn on one side, like the Moon to Earth. Titan moves in its orbit at a distance of 1,221,900 km from Saturn.

Internal structure of Titan

Titan is of great interest not only to astronomers, but also to biologists, geologists and paleoclimatologists. But all of them are interested not only and not so much in the size of Titan and the parameters of its orbit, as in the atmosphere and surface of this satellite.

Titan is the only satellite in the solar system that has an atmosphere. The density of Titan's atmosphere is significantly higher than the density of the Earth's atmosphere, so the pressure at the surface of Titan is one and a half times (1.5 bar) higher than the Earth's. The temperature on the surface of the satellite ranges from 90 to 100 K. The atmosphere consists mainly of nitrogen (90-97%), methane (2-5%) and argon (about 0-6%) are also present, there are traces of ethane, hydrogen ( 0.2%) and carbon dioxide. The presence of methane was determined already in 1944 using infrared spectrometry.

The surface of Titan is covered with clouds. In images transmitted by Voyager 1 in 1980, the clouds are predominantly orange in color. This means the presence of organic molecules in them, which is quite understandable given the presence of methane in the atmosphere. Methane is a greenhouse gas, and clouds containing methane cover Titan's surface. Visual observations of Titan are very difficult. Some researchers have suggested that cold reigns only in the outer layers of the atmosphere, and there may be other conditions on the surface, including those under which protein life is possible.

There was an assumption about the similarity of the titanic atmosphere with the atmosphere that previously existed on Earth. This assumption had a certain basis, because in the modern atmosphere of the Earth, as in the atmosphere of Titan, the main component is molecular nitrogen.

The Mystery of Titan's Surface

Panoramic view of the surface of Titan from the Huygens spacecraft

The mystery of Titan's surface has haunted scientists. Astronomers and, especially, biologists and paleoclimatologists wanted to know more about the celestial body on which (what if!) protein life could be discovered. What is there, under the layer of clouds: the ocean or a solid surface? If it is an ocean, then what is it filled with - water? ethane? There was not long to wait for answers to these questions. In 1997, NASA, together with the European Space Agency, completed the development of the Cassini-Huygens project and the Cassini interplanetary probe with the Huygens atmospheric probe launched towards Titan. In July 2004, the Huygens probe separated from the Cassini spacecraft, entered Titan's cloudy atmosphere and landed on its surface. The information that the Huygens probe transmitted to Earth left no chance for researchers who dreamed of finding at least traces of biological activity on Titan. Once again we are convinced that in the Solar system, and perhaps in our entire Galaxy and even in thousands of such galaxies, life does not exist anywhere except our beautiful small planet Earth. The surface of Titan, like its atmosphere, turned out to be exceptionally cold, with an average surface temperature of minus 178°C. There are many lakes on its surface, but they are naturally not filled with water; perhaps they are compounds of methane or ethane with other substances.

The study of Titan continues. To date, more than 60% of Titan's surface has been mapped. Lakes occupy about 14% of the total studied area. The density of Titan's substance (a mixture of rock and ice) is about 1.88 g/cm³, which is the highest density among Saturn's moons. Titan accounts for more than 95% of the mass of all Saturn's moons. Titan's mass is 1.345 × 10 23 kg. The acceleration of gravity is 1.352 (m/s²), i.e. gravity is about seven times less than on Earth.

© Vladimir Kalanov,
"Knowledge is power"

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Total information

Titan's diameter is 5152 km, making it larger than the Moon in diameter by approximately 50%. Christiaan Huygens, a famous Dutch physicist, mechanic, mathematician and astronomer, discovered Titan as the first moon of Saturn in 1655.

Astronomers for a long time believed that its diameter was 5550 km, and it ranked first. The true dimensions were found out later thanks to the Voyager 1 spacecraft.

The surface of this huge moon

Until 2004, scientists did not know what the surface of this unknown celestial body looked like, because... Titan, a satellite of Saturn, was completely enveloped in an incredibly dense envelope of atmosphere, making it difficult to study. But after the Cassini-Huygens apparatus landed on its surface, all questions were resolved.

What we now know is that its surface is still quite young by geological standards, and is covered by sedimentary organic matter and water ice. It is almost all flat, except for a few mountains and craters. The surface temperature is 170-180°C below zero. The atmosphere is mainly composed of nitrogen, some ethane and methane.

The hydrocarbon sea of ​​Ligeia is the second largest, Cassini radar survey

Significant areas of the surface are covered by ethane-methane rivers and lakes. Scientists discovered liquid on this celestial body and proved the presence of an atmosphere, as a result of which a hypothesis was presented that a primitive form of life could exist on Titan.

physical characteristics

A 95% share of the total mass of all satellites surrounding Saturn belongs to Titan. Disputes about where such a huge satellite came from have led to several theories, but scientists have not yet come to a final answer. One theory is as follows: this celestial body could have been formed from a dust cloud, which was subsequently captured by the planet’s gravity. Moreover, this theory also explains such a large difference in the mass of the satellites.

Orbit of movement

The second largest moon in the solar system has an orbit of 1,221,870 km, which is equal to 20.3 Saturn's radii, placing it outside the rings of Saturn. It makes one full circle around the planet in almost 16 days. Moreover, its speed is 5.57 kilometers per second.

Titan, like the Moon, rotates synchronously around its planet. It is precisely because Titan’s revolutions around Saturn and around its own axis coincide that it always looks at the planet from the same side. The rotation trajectory of Saturn is inclined relative to the ecliptic by 26.73′, it is this moment that ensures the change of seasons on the planet itself and its satellites.

Each season lasts approximately 7.5 Earth years, while Saturn itself makes one revolution around the Sun in about 30 years. Based on this, we can assume that the last summer on Titan ended in 2009.

And finally, some of the most spectacular photos of Titan

Three views of Saturn's moon Titan from the Cassini spacecraft. Left: Natural color, created from images taken using three filters sensitive to red, green and violet light. Like that Titan will appear to the human eye. Center: Near-infrared image showing the surface. Right: False color composition from one visible image and two infrared ones. Green areas appear where Cassini could see the surface; red represents areas located in Titan's stratosphere. Retrieved April 16, 2005 at distances from 168,200 to 173,000 km. Source: NASA/JPL

Voyager 2 photo of Titan taken on August 23, 1981, from a distance of 2.3 million km. The southern hemisphere appears lighter, with a clearly visible stripe at the equator, and a dark collar at the north pole. All these bands are associated with the circulation of clouds in Titan's atmosphere. Source: NASA/JPL

Comparison of the sizes of Earth and Titan

The second largest in the solar system after Ganymede (Jupiter). In its structure, this body is very similar to the Earth. Its atmosphere is also similar to ours, and in 2008 a large underground ocean was discovered on Titan. For this reason, many scientists assume that this particular satellite of Saturn will become the abode of humanity in the future.

Titan is a moon that has a mass equal to approximately 95 percent of the mass of all Saturns. Gravity is about a seventh of that on Earth. It is the only satellite in our system that has a dense atmosphere. Exploring Titan's surface is difficult due to a thick cloud layer. The temperature is minus 170-180 degrees, and the pressure at the surface is 1.5 times higher than that of the Earth.

Titan has lakes, rivers and seas made of ethane and methane, as well as high mountains that are composed mainly of ice. According to some scientists, around the rocky core, which reaches a diameter of 3,400 kilometers, there are several layers of ice with different types of crystallization, as well as possibly one layer of liquid.

During research on Titan, a huge hydrocarbon basin was discovered - the Kraken Sea. Its area is 400,050 square kilometers. According to computer calculations and images taken from the spacecraft, the composition of the liquid in all lakes is approximately the following: ethane (about 79%), propane (7-8%), methane (5-10%), hydrogen cyanide (2-3%) , acetylene, butane, butene (about 1%). According to other theories, the main substances are methane and ethane.

Titan is a satellite whose atmosphere is approximately 400 kilometers thick. It contains layers of hydrocarbon “smog”. For this reason, the surface of this celestial body cannot be observed using a telescope.

Planet Titan receives very little energy from the Sun to ensure the dynamics of processes in the atmosphere. Scientists have expressed the opinion that the energy for moving atmospheric masses is provided by the strong tidal influence of the planet Saturn.

Rotation and orbit

The radius of Titan's orbit is 1,221,870 kilometers. Outside of it there are such satellites of Saturn as Hyperion and Iapetus, and inside - Mimas, Tethys, Dione, Enceladus. Titan's orbit passes beyond

The Titan satellite makes a complete revolution around its planet in fifteen days, twenty-two hours and forty-one minutes. The orbital speed is 5.57 kilometers per second.

Like many others, the satellite Titan rotates synchronously relative to Saturn. This means that the time of its rotation around the planet and around its own axis coincide, as a result of which Titan is always turned with one side towards Saturn, therefore there is a point on the surface of the satellite at which Saturn always appears to be hanging at the zenith.

The tilt of Saturn's rotation axis is ensured by the planet itself and its satellites. For example, the last summer on Titan ended in 2009. Moreover, the duration of each season is approximately seven and a half years, since the planet Saturn makes a complete revolution around the star Sun in thirty years.