Saturn ’s lunar month Titan continues to be one of the most fascinating places in the Solar System . Alongside its Earth - like weather system and possible underground ocean , it is the only billet other than Earth jazz to have body of liquid on the surface . And in one of its seas , a mysterious feature article is nonplus scientists .
This feature , knight the“magic island,”was blot in figure from 2013 and 2014 deal by the Cassini ballistic capsule . It appears near the slide of Titan ’s secondly - largest body of liquid , Ligeia Mare , and standard about 260 square kilometers ( 100 square miles ) in size of it – roughly the size of Washington , DC . The lake itself is 130,000 substantial kilometers ( 50,000 square miles ) .
But cryptically , the characteristic is not present in microwave radar images get in 2007 nor , most recently , on January 11 , 2015 in an image liberate by NASA yesterday . This suggest that Titan ’s sea , compose of fluid hydrocarbons such as methane , are dynamic .
“ Now we have verification that these seas are not stagnant ponds just pose there , but there is action in them , ” said Jason Hofgartner of NASA ’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory , reportedNew Scientist .
The feature of speech is seen here in 2013 and 2014 , but not in other year . NASA / JPL - Caltech / ASI / Cornell
Perhaps most baffling of all , though , is that we do n’t know what is causing the feature . The predominant hypothesis at the moment is that it is waves moving slowly on the surface of Titan . It has already been theorized that tiny waves , less than a meter tall , might be moving on Titan ’s seas at a solemn one meter per second base . This feature could be the first direct grounds for such waves .
Other theory abound , though . The feature could be the answer of bubbles rise up from the depth of Ligeia Mare , which is up to 170 meters ( 560 feet ) deep in places . It could also be some kind of whole fabric dislodged from the bottom of the ocean , temporarily lift up before go under down again .
The waves theory is supported by the fact that the moon ’s Northern Hemisphere , where the sea is locate , is get in its summertime , with Titan ’s twelvemonth lasting 30 Earth years . tip are expected to pick up during the summertime , possibly giving rise to wave like this .
In April 2017 , Cassini will make its next and last notice of its region , before it issent plunginginto Saturn ’s atmosphere later on that year . scientist will be thirstily awaiting more images to see if this feature has turn back .
