Saturn is named after the roman god of agriculture and harvest. With 62 moons it has the just 1 less orbiting bodies after Jupiter, 53 of which are named. Most of the moons of Saturn are named after Greek deities named titans. Only 13 of the moons are more than 50 km in diametre. However the largest moon, titan is 5150 km in diametre.
Titan is the second largest moon in the solar system and one of the most interesting. This is because it is one of the few places in the solar system that could potentially hold life. It was discovered in 1655 by the dutch astronomer Christiaan Huygens with the help of his bother Constantjin Huygens, Jr. what is very interesting about titan is that it is remarkably similar to earth in its appearances. It has massive lakes made up of hydrocarbons which are either methane and ethane which could potential harbour microbial life. The large quantities of methane from the lakes are converted into acetylene, ethylene and hydrogen cyanide which provide the building blocks for amino acids potentially creating life. Following on from the similarity in the appearance to earth it also has similar weather patterns and seasons as well as geological features such as shore lines, lakes and seas. Titan’s atmosphere is a orangey opaque colour with a blue haze over it this is because methane molecules get broken up by ultra-violet light. 
One of the stranger moons observed close up in the solar system is Hyperion. Hyperion was named after the brother of the Greek titan Cronus who was the father of Zeus. What makes Hyperion strange is that it has a spongy looking surface which may have been caused by a major collusion. The craters on this moon are believed to be filled with some dark substance. Due to Hyperion unusually orbit Saturn’s gravitational forces effects its rotation therefore it changes from orbit to orbit.
Enceladus is named after the Greek titan that was buried under Mount Etna where the volcanic eruptions where believed to be the breath of the titan. An interesting parallel to this mythological story is that the moon has water rich plumes like volcanic eruptions venting from the south pole of Enceladus. It was discovered by William Herschel in 1789. It is an ice covered planet with many cracks in the surface which point to tidal activity underneath the ice layer. The possible tidal activity is caused by the gravitational pull and push of Saturn. This gravitational pull and push creates friction which is believed to be what melts the ice layer. Due to the potentially large sea of water under the ice layer this is scientists best bet for potentially life in our solar system. There is talk about probe missions to explore the oceans of Enceladus but due to the lack of information on the thickness of the ice these missions are a long way off.
In conclusion, what links Titan and Enceladus is there potentially to harbour life in an earth like manner. The most likely place that we will discover micro-organisms is Enceladus due to the massive amounts of water. Whereas titan is believed to be able to harbour life due to the versatility of life and evolution.
solarviews.com
window2universe.com
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:False_color_Cassini_image_of_jets_in_the_southern_hemisphere_of_Enceladus.jpg
No comments:
Post a Comment