Most of the planets in our solar system have some sort of atmosphere and many have dynamic weather systems. But only one moon in the solar system, Saturn’s large moon Titan, can say the same. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/titan-saturns-moon-weather-seasons-methane-rain-storms…
Tag: hydrocarbons
What’s in wildfire smoke and why it’s so bad for your lungs
The health impact of wildfire exposure depends in part on the fire itself and how much smoke a person breathes in, how often and for how long. Source: https://earthsky.org/human-world/what-is-in-wildfire-smoke…
Titan is migrating away from Saturn 100 times faster than previously predicted
By Earthly standards, Saturn’s moon Titan is a strange place. Larger than the planet Mercury, Titan is swaddled in a thick atmosphere (it is the only moon in the solar system to have one) and covered in rivers and seas of liquid hydrocarbons like methane and ethane. Beneath these is a thick crust of water ice, and beneath that may be…
February birthstone is the amethyst
Are you a February baby? Here’s some cool info about your birthstone, the amethyst. Plus pics! Source: https://earthsky.org/human-world/february-birthstone-amethyst…
Let the moon show you Saturn
At nightfall these next few evenings – November 29 and 30, 2019 – use the waxing crescent moon to find the planet Saturn. Source: https://earthsky.org/tonight/let-the-moon-show-you-saturn…
New global geologic map of Titan, Saturn’s largest moon
The 1st-ever map showing the global geology of Saturn’s moon Titan reveals a dynamic world of dunes, lakes, plains, craters and other terrains. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/geolical-global-map-titan…
Astronomers spy cosmic bubbles and bow shocks
Professional astronomers and citizen scientists have been combing through a region of our galaxy where cosmic bubbles are being inflated by wind and radiation from young, massive stars. Hundreds to thousands of stars may emerge from each bubble, in time. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/spitzer-zooniverse-bubbles-bow-shocks…
Thousands of Ships Fitted With ‘Cheat Devices’ To Divert Poisonous Pollution Into Sea
Volkswagen, BMW, and Daimler aren’t the only companies using “cheat devices” to get around environmental legislation. According to The Independent, “global shipping companies have spent billions rigging vessels with ‘cheat devices’ that circumvent new environmental legislation by dumping pollution into the sea instead of the air.” From the report: More than $12 billion has been spent on the devices, known as…
The habitability of Titan and its ocean
Saturn’s largest moon, Titan, is a hotbed of organic molecules, harboring a soup of complex hydrocarbons similar to that thought to have existed over four billion years ago on the primordial Earth. Titan’s surface, however, is in a deep freeze at –179 degrees Celsius (–290 degrees Fahrenheit, or 94 kelvin). Life as we know it cannot exist on the moon’s frigid…
Dragonfly aims for Saturn’s moon Titan
Scheduled for launch in 2026, the Dragonfly mission will look for clues to the origins of life, and possibly even evidence of life itself, on Saturn’s alien yet remarkably Earth-like moon Titan. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/dragonfly-mission-saturn-moon-titan…