For the first time astronomers were able to determine the chemical composition of sea on Titan

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Астрономы впервые смогли определить химический состав моря на ТитанеThe bottom of the sea Ligai the methane-filled covered with sludge from organic compounds.

Planetary scientists using the analysis obtained by the automatic station Cassini data have found the chemical composition of sea Ligai the largest moon of Saturn — Titanium.

The second largest hydrocarbon reservoir occupies the total area of lakes Huron and Michigan. A study published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, briefly reported on the NASA website.

In the atmosphere of Titan, like Earth, is mostly dominated by nitrogen. In the gas shell of a moon of Saturn it accounts for up to 95 percent of the volume. Unlike Earth, Titan’s atmosphere has very little oxygen, which takes place methane and ethane. Low temperatures on the satellite allow these gases to exist in the liquid state. Scientists estimate that more than 1.6 million square kilometers of Titan’s surface (nearly two percent of its total surface) is covered with liquid.

Астрономы впервые смогли определить химический состав моря на Титане

On Titan near the North pole there are three large hydrocarbon sea, surrounded by numerous lakes. In the southern hemisphere so far discovered only one large lake. The reservoirs found station, Cassini, 2004 exploring a moon of Saturn. Their exact chemical composition was unknown until 2014, when for the first time, Cassini carried a radar observation of the sea Legei it detected methane.

Астрономы впервые смогли определить химический состав моря на Титане

The new study uses data from the same radar, but working in 2007-2015 in the other mode. If earlier scientists had hoped to find in the sea Legei, except methane, and even ethane, but now scientists believe that hydrocarbon reservoir consists mainly of methane.

Scientists offer several explanations for why sea Lihei contains almost no ethane. So, methane can get into the body of water in the hydrocarbon result of precipitation, and the ethane contained in the bottom layers. Another explanation is that Ethan can have a bath in a nearby pond — sea Kraken. Finding out the reasons for the lack of ethane in the sea Legei, according to scientists, requires additional research.

In the study, researchers also determined the depth of the sea Ligai. At the deepest point the bottom of the reservoir is located at 160 meters below the surface. Also, scientists were able to establish that the bottom of the reservoir is covered with a layer of various organic compounds. These insoluble hydrocarbons (e.g., benzene and NITRILES) got there as a result of precipitation and settled at the bottom under the force of gravity.

Scientists did not notice the difference between the temperatures at sea and on shore in different seasons (similar to earth’s winter and summer). It is suggested that the coastline of the sea Lihei has a porous structure and are rich in liquid hydrocarbons.

Titan almost one and a half times larger than the moon in diameter and almost twice the mass. Surface temperature on Saturn is equal to minus 180 degrees Celsius.

Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, ESA (European space Agency) and Italian space Agency. Operational project management is carried out by the jet propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena (California, USA) in the interests of NASA. The main goal of the project is to study Saturn, its rings and its largest moon, Titan. The mission launched 15 October 1997 from Cape Canaveral in Florida and on July 1 of 2004 went into orbit around Saturn. On 25 December 2004, Cassini from the satellite separated probe Huygens, 14 January 2005 landed on Titan’s surface.

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