Huygens reveals Titan's 'creme brulee' centre | ABC Australia

[Ediacara]

Huygens reveals Titan's 'creme brulee' centre


Icy surface: Scientists speculate
that Titan may have been wet. (NASA)

Data sent back by the Huygens space probe show Titan is a frozen, orange world shrouded in a methane-rich haze with dark ice rocks dotting a riverbed-like surface the consistency of wet sand.

The Huygens probe, part of a $US3 billion joint mission involving NASA and the European and Italian space agencies, made its pioneering descent to the Saturn moon on Friday.

It has sent back readings on the moon's atmosphere, composition and landscape.

Slowed by parachutes, Huygens took more than two hours to float to the icy surface, where it defied expectations of a quick death and continued to transmit for at least two hours.

More at ABC Australia

[depakid]

1. ESA's newest creme broule pic

Huygens has landed in soil with the consistency of wet sand or clay - or, as John Zarnecki, the principal investigator for Huygens' Surface Science Package, said one team member had suggested, "crème brulé."

The scenery surrounding the landing site resembles a postcard panorama of undeveloped lakefront property, hand-tinted in pastel shades of orange.

It's hardly a typical lakefront, though - and not just because everything, including the sky, is orange. For starters, the temperature on Titan averages about minus 180 Celsius (minus 292 Fahrenheit). It makes the shore of Lake Michigan on a windy night in January seem balmy by comparison.

Then there's the composition of the liquid in the "lake." It's not water. On the surface of Titan, water is frozen as solid as granite. It's more likely liquid methane or ethane, perhaps a mixture of the two. In other words, it's a lake of liquid natural gas.

http://www.astrobio.net/news/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1397&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0

[porkrind]

12. Mmmmm, coffee colored world...

This thread is making me hungry! :)

[bluestateblues]

2. Feather in the cap of the ESA

Second only to the awesome (in the true sense of the word) achievement of landing a probe on a distant moon, was the brilliance of the European Space Agency's commentator, whose depth of knowledge, eloquence and ability to interview English, French, German, Italian scientists in their own languages, made for truly engaging coverage. That, while NASA coverage seemed directed only at technicians and five year olds.

An educated public might find the Cassini/Huygens adventure captivating, and space exploration worthy of its attention and funding.

When Ralph Kramden used to say, "To the moon, Alice!" none of us watching could have imagined one so far, far away.

[CroixRoussienne]

3. Thanks!

bluestateblues - is there a link to the ESA commentary? The NASA feed was disappointing, as usual. I just cannot figure out why they do not bring the same production values to their broadcast as they do to their operations.

I pretty much have jaw-dropping admiration for the whole Cassini-Huygens group.

[aneerkoinos]

4. Link to esa

http://www.esa.int/esaCP/index.html

There's some new stuff, panorama pictures and sounds of Titan's wind...

[aneerkoinos]

6. link to press presentation .pdf

http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/ESOC/SEM6DR71Y3E_0.html

[bluestateblues]

9. Thank you!

I spent a ridiculous amount of time yesterday trying to find a link to the video rebroadcasts of Friday morning's web cast, and couldn't find it; I don't know if it hadn't been posted yet, or if I was just brain-dead from staying up all night!

Thank you for pointing the way!

CroixRoussienne - Just go to http://www.esa.int/esaCP/index.html and follow the link on the right that says Cassini-Huygens, and then the link, on the right again, for Overview of Events. VOILA! (And that covers my knowledge of French...well, except in the kitchen--I make a mean souffle!)

[mogster]

5. Welcome to DU, bluestateblues!

I'm a Norwegian hanging out here, but I'll say it anyway :-)

:toast:

On edit: corrected name :crazy:

[bluestateblues]

10. Thanks!

Thanks for noticing me!

[newyawker99]

13. Hi bluestateblues!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[Elidor]

7. "shrouded in a methane-rich haze"

In other words, it smells like a nasty fart. A cold, orange, nasty fart-land. 'Creme brulee' it ain't.

[VTMechEngr]

8. Methane doesn't stink.

Its the sulfur compounds in a fart, like H2S that make the difference between a funny fart and the really nasty ones.

[Lisa]

11. true -- and they also have to add chemicals for that "gas leak" smell

Such as mercaptan, which is the only thing I can think of that stinks more than a Bush fundraising speech. Otherwise we wouldn't know that there was CH4 present.

Speaking of Bush, will the US be invading Titan, now that we know they have hydrocarbons?