\n<\/p>\n
Saturn\u2019s moon, Titan, is an anomaly among moons. No other moons have surface liquids, and aside from Earth, it\u2019s the only other Solar System object with liquids on its surface. However, since Titan is so cold, the liquids are hydrocarbons, not water. Titan\u2019s water is all frozen into a surface layer of ice.<\/p>\n
New research suggests that under the surface, Titan is hiding another anomaly: a thick crust of methane. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n The evidence for the methane comes mostly from craters. Observations have found few confirmed impact craters on the frigid moon, and the ones that have been observed are hundreds of meters shallower than the same-sized craters on other moons. If Titan\u2019s crust was rock, the craters should be much deeper. <\/p>\n The new research, published in The Planetary Science Journal, is titled \u201cRapid Impact Crater Relaxation Caused by an Insulating Methane Clathrate Crust on Titan.\u201d Lauren Schurmeier, from the Hawai\u2019i Institute of Geophysics and Planetology at the University of Hawai\u2019i at Manoa, is the lead author<\/span>. <\/p>\n Titan stands apart from other moons for multiple reasons. Unlike any other natural satellites in the Solar System, it has a thick atmosphere. Its atmosphere is about 50% more dense than Earth\u2019s and extends about 600 km into space. A haze made of complex organic molecules called tholins gives the atmosphere its characteristic orange colour. The atmosphere is so thick that it blocks optical light, making Titan\u2019s surface features nearly inscrutable.<\/p>\n The Cassini spacecraft has given us our best looks at Titan. It used radar and infrared instruments to see the moon\u2019s surface. The small Huygens probe that went to Saturn with Cassini was released into Titan in 2005 to study the atmosphere and surface. It\u2019s thanks to Huygens that we have our best images of Titan\u2019s surface.<\/p>\n \n