Titan moon and its attributes
Titan moon and its attributes
A blog on the universe and the cosmos above and the nature of it determined by great scientists.
So friends hope you'll read my earlier blog on Lyrid Meteor Shower 2020 India and it proved useful to you'll and you could see the Lyrids from your houses amid the lock downs. Remember at the end of my earlier blog post I had asked a question stating Which is the only other celestial object in our solar system excluding Earth which has a dense atmosphere. So everyone the answer is Titan.
What is Titan :
Titan is one of the 82 confirmed moons of Saturn and it also happens to be the largest one discovered yet. Recent discoveries have also shown that Titan is the second largest natural satellite after Jupiter moon Ganymede in the whole Solar System. It is positioned as the sixth moon revolving closest to the gas giant Saturn and was first discovered by Dutch astronomer Christiaan Huygens. But there's something more that makes this very specific moon so special.
Titan is the only celestial object in our solar system excluding Earth which has a dense atmosphere , rain cycles , Methane and Nitrogen gases and many such components which makes this moon interesting to us and arises the question , ' Is survival possible on Titan ? '
Earth and Titan :
As mentioned above Titan has a dense atmosphere , rain cycles , Methane and Nitrogen gases and land forms similar to that of the earth created due to rains. But for titan lacks in some factors important for human survival at any place.
Atmosphere : Titan's dense atmosphere is constituted of about 94 % of Methane , about 5 % of hydrogen and the remaining of other gases. Though as we discussed in my earlier blogs that a dense atmosphere is necessary to resist the solar winds and maintain conditions favorable for survival , but a dense atmosphere which has 94% Methane is certainly not favorable for survival as this gas is very harmful and poisonous. It is one of the gases released from vehicles and causes global warming.
Rain cycles : Rain on Earth brings water with it , but that's not the same what happens on Titan. On Titan there are Methane rains , that is instead of water it is liquid Methane which comes down on the surface of Titan through rains.
Temperature : Titan is a moon which revolves around the gas giant Saturn. And Saturn is quite far away from Sun and hence it receives less heat and so does Titan. It receives approximately only 1% of the total heat received by Earth. The average surface temperature over here is about - 179 degrees.
Season and time : Time/ days on Titan are quite larger that those of earth because it indirectly revolves around a quite larger orbit around the sun. One day on this moon is equal to 15 Earth days. Because of the angle of tilt , time of revolution and a few other aspects the amount of heat received by the northern and southern hemispheres of this moon is quite different.
Huygens spacecraft :
Huygens Space Probe was the first probe to successfully land on the surface of Titan in 2005. This probe was named after Christiaan Huygens , the one who first found the Saturn moon Titan This spacecraft was a part of the cassini mission which was done by a collaboration between NASA , European Space Agency [ ESA ] and the Italian Space Agency. The Huygens Space Probe made a successful landing on January 5 , 2005. After landing upon the soil of Titan made many great discoveries. One of them was lakes and rivers of liquid Methane on Titan.
This probe was designed uniquely and made it able to even make a soft and successful landing on a sea if necessary. The Huygens Space Probe is the one responsible for findings of small quantities of water and ice on the Saturn's largest moon and also for finding land forms similar to the ones found back on Earth.
Dragonfly unmanned aircraft :
The Dragonfly is one of the planned missions on the list of NASA's upcoming projects. NASA has already cleared that this spacecraft will take a lift from the Earth in the year 2026. This spacecraft will study the prebiotic chemistry and extraterrestrial habitability [a type of measure of the potential of a celestial object to host a sustainable environment] on this planet. Through this mission NASA plans to send a lander on Titan , which will roam across its surface collecting numerous information related to origins of life.
As Titan has similar conditions as that of early Earth , this study will also help us evolve an understanding of how life evolved on Earth. This Spacecraft will land on Titan in 2034 at a dark dune field region called Shangri-La. It will explore the surface and even explore a few creators where there have been evidence of liquid water being found.
So guys hope you'll enjoy reading, and if yes then do share this article on your favorite social media
Now before reading just a quick exercise to trigger up your brain :- What is the layer around earth protecting us from UV rays called ?
Do comment your answers below !!!
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