The polar vortex on Saturn's moon, Titan, can last 22 YEARS



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Titan and Earth share many similar characteristics.

Just as the surface of the oceans on Earth is what we call "sea level", the seas of Titan are also at a moderate altitude.

It is currently the only other world we know in our solar system that has a stable liquid on its surface.

The small lakes on Titan appear at altitudes of several hundred meters above sea level of Titan. This is similar to lakes found on Earth at high altitude.

For example, Lake Titicaca, the highest lake on the Earth that can be navigated, is more than 300 meters [3,700 meters] above sea level.

Titan's liquid bodies seem to be connected beneath the surface by something that looks like a terrestrial aquifer system.

Hydrocarbons appear to flow beneath the surface of Titan, just like the way water flows through porous underground rock or gravel on Earth.

This means that nearby lakes communicate with each other and share the same level of liquid.

Aside from the Earth, Titan is the only known place in the solar system to have rivers, rainfall and seas – and maybe even waterfalls.

Of course, in the case of Titan, it is liquid methane rather than water on Earth.

Ordinary earth water, H2O, would be frozen on Titan when the surface temperature is -180 ° C (-292 ° F).

With its thick atmosphere and chemistry rich in organic substances, Titan looks like a frozen version of the Earth billions of years ago, before life began to inject oxygen into our atmosphere.

Because Titan is smaller than Earth, its gravity does not hold as tightly on its gaseous envelope, so the atmosphere stretches for 595 km (370 miles) in space.

With the low density and dense atmosphere of Titan, methane rain drops could reach twice the size of raindrops on Earth.

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