Based on the recent press releases issued by researchers. NASA’s Cassini probe identified polar winds on Saturn’s moon Titan, on Thursday afternoon. The presence of these gusts of wind suggests that the moon might be very similar to the Earth.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration sent the Cassini probe into the outer space seven years ago in order to gather information on Saturn and its moons. The mission is advancing from one day to the other as scientists come across new findings every day.
The most recent discovery suggests that there could be polar winds on Saturn’s’ moon Titan. This is not all, however, researchers have compared the activity of these winds to the ones on Earth and concluded that the two phenomena are incredibly similar.
There are many planets that have similar characteristics to the ones of the Earth, but researchers hope they could find more resemblances between the two celestial bodies in the future, as well. For the moment, they will continue to study the evolution of Titan’s polar winds to determine their peculiarities.
According to Andrew Coates, the leader of the study group and science professor at Mullard Space Science Laboratory from the University of College London, the polar winds are not the only aspects that render Saturn’s moon Titan special. There is also a curious battle between the moon’s atmosphere and the magnetic field of the sun going on all the time.
This peculiarity has long been noticed by scientist, but the recent discovery of the polar winds has enabled them to explain some of the changes that occur in Titan’s ionosphere. According to researchers, Titan’s ionosphere contains 50% larger quantities of nitrogen and methane than the ones exiting on the surface of the Earth.
In addition, Titan is losing around seven tones of nitriles and hydrocarbon from its atmosphere on a daily basis causing scientists to raise more questions in relation to the moon’s activity. The explanation resides in the fact that Titan’s ionosphere releases negatively charged electrons when in contact with the light of the sun.
Once the negative electrons are released, positive particles are emitted into the space. These photoelectrons, as they are scientifically named, have a specific energy charge. They produce approximately 24.1 electronvolts, so scientists can carefully study them using the images captured by the Cassini probe.
The polar winds are formed on Titan with the help of these photoelectrons. The latter travel within the moon’s atmosphere giving birth to earth-like weather phenomena, such as, rivers, sees and rains on the surface of Saturn’s moon.
Image Source: scitechdaily.com