NASA scientists released a first-of-its-kind image from space showing reflecting sunlight from a lake on Saturn's largest moon, Titan on 24th December 09.
· NASA photo from Cassini probe is first-ever of liquid on another world, says scientist
· Image shows sun reflecting from a lake on Saturn's moon, Titan
· Planets with liquid are thought to be more likely to develop life
· Scientists have been studying Titan because of its similarities to Earth
It's the first visual "smoking gun" evidence of liquid on the northern hemisphere of the moon, scientists said, and the first-ever photo from another world showing a " specular reflection" -- which is reflection of light from an extremely smooth surface and in this case, a liquid one.
"This is the first time outside Earth we've seen specular reflection from another liquid from another body," said Ralf Jaumann, a scientist analyzing data from the Cassini unmanned space probe.
Jaumann said he was surprised when he first saw the photos transmitting from Cassini, orbiting Saturn about a billion miles from Earth.
"It was great because if you look at photos of planets, you mostly see nothing is happening. But in two hours we saw a glint of light getting brighter."
Titan's similarities to Earth have attracted NASA's attention for decades. It's the only body besides our own in the solar system that is believed to have liquid on its surface. Like Earth, Titan has an atmosphere which is mostly nitrogen.
No comments:
Post a Comment