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Titan, one of the 62 moons that revolve around the planet Saturn, is also the largest. Measuring 5,149.4 kilometers in diameter, Titan is about twice the size of the Earth and double the size of its moon.
However, we can not stop the comparison between Titan and Earth just here, let's dig deeper, because Titan is very special!
Titan was discovered on March 25, 1655 by Christiaan Huygens and John Herschel gave it the name of the name of the Greek mythological gods. Although Titan is a moon, its atmosphere is surprisingly similar to that of the early Earth.
There is a heavy atmosphere and cloud formations within it. It was believed that such an atmospheric condition was present on Earth, which would be a fuel for the formation of life on Earth.
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Many think that Titan has his own moon, but this claim is false. Titan is himself a moon of Saturn and has no other celestial body revolving around him.
However, it is larger than the planet Mercury and almost as large as the planet Mars.
The atmosphere is not the only thing that distinguishes Titan, it also has lakes and other bodies of water like the ones we see on Earth. But they hide a big difference: the Titan lakes are not filled with water but with hydrocarbons, to be more precise: liquid methane and liquid ethane.
This liquid evaporates and forms the clouds of Titan. And since their cloud is made of methane and ethane, it rains the same material on Titan.
However, it is interesting to note that only 5% of Titan's atmosphere contains a mixture of hydrocarbons, the rest being nitrogen.
Another fascinating feature of Titan is that the surface of Titan is covered with a layer of ice. Researchers believe that water is present under the ice sheet and that contact between water and hydrocarbons can act as a catalyst.
More terrestrial than our neighbors
There are also desert type areas covered with a soil-like substance. These are not silicate materials that we see on Earth, but a solid water covered with oil falling from the atmosphere, almost black in color.
Thus, when looking for a place similar to the Earth, Titan presents itself as a viable candidate. However, Titan is also a place for extreme extremes. At the highest temperatures, the Titan measures -179 ° C.
So the ice will not melt so soon and it will stay that way for many, many years.
However, Titan 's temperature will gradually increase over the years, and scientists believe that by 5 to 6 billion years ago, it will reach something like -70 ° C. In such a temperature range, the Titan will be able to preserve the oceans which are a mixture of ammonia and water.
Although the Titan contains an abundance of hydrocarbons, there is no absence of carbon dioxide (CO2), an essential component that ensures the survival of plant life.
There are also visible craters scattered on Titan. This is a sign that it has had impacts on its surface, possibly meteorites in the past.
One of the defining characteristics of the Earth's atmosphere is the change of season. Titan also has seasons, but unlike the Earth, each season lasts 7.5 years.
In June 2016, the Cassini orbiter spotted something very interesting at the North Pole of Titan. A bright spot has been discovered over an area of 120,000 square kilometers.
The satellite detected it and, after analysis, the researchers were able to determine what was evaporation from a puddle of water caused by methane rains.
Precipitation during this period was a sign that Titan was slowly entering the summer season. Cassini, Saturn's orbiting satellite, had special infrared cameras that allowed him to study what was happening beyond Titan's thick atmosphere.
Another characteristic that makes the land so good for us is its level of gravity. Imagine a land without gravity, and chaos ensues.
Since Titan has less mass than the Earth, its gravitational force is inevitable. The researchers calculated that the Titan free fall objects will have a speed of only 1.6 meters per second, while the same object will have a speed of 9.2 meters per second.
In essence, the gravity of Titan is somewhat equivalent to that of the Moon. So yes, we can jump higher and further than we can on the earth when we are on Titan.
Jenelle Wellons, NASA's instrument operations engineer, shared her point of view on Titan about Reddit. think we could settle down with a lot of space. Its atmosphere is thick that could protect us from space radiation. It is so dense that we could tie wings to our arms and fly on that moon. I do not know, it just seems like a great place to live. "
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His point of view was an answer to the question "Where would be the most appropriate place in the universe if we could no longer live theoretically on Earth?" We would now resort to a more common answer, namely the moon or Mars.
However, this is a very interesting shot, because all she has shared are facts about Titan that make it a viable choice, not today, but at the right time!
It's really amazing to see the Earth as an atmosphere in our same solar system. Certainly, Titan is not fit to support life, but knowing that we have something very similar to the Earth gives us hope to one day find a planet like Earth, a safe haven if and when we have pushed our limits here on Earth.
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