Calm Seas on Titan: Saturn Moon's Waves Less Than 1 Inch High

[Judi Lynn]

By Mike Wall, Space.com Senior Writer | July 7, 2017 01:51pm ET


The liquid-hydrocarbon lakes and seas on Titan are incredibly calm, suggesting that future missions to the huge Saturn moon could enjoy a smooth ride to the surface, a new study reports.

The waves rippling the three largest lakes in Titan's northern hemisphere are tiny, according to the study — just 0.25 inches (1 centimeter) high by about 8 inches (20 cm) long.

"There's a lot of interest in one day sending probes to the lakes, and when that's done, you want to have a safe landing, and you don't want a lot of wind," study lead author Cyril Grima, a research associate at the University of Texas Institute for Geophysics (UTIG), said in a statement. "Our study shows that because the waves aren't very high, the winds are likely low." [Amazing Photos: Titan, Saturn's Largest Moon]

The 3,200-mile-wide (5,150 kilometers) Titan is the only celestial object besides Earth known to host stable bodies of liquid on its surface. But this liquid isn't water. Titan's weather system is hydrocarbon-based; ethane and methane rain from the skies, flowing in rivers and collecting in large lakes and seas.

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