Titan

steemizen(69)

Published in

#education

Words

0

Reading

0 min

Listen

Play

2017-01-10 14:15

Hello Steemians!

Today I'm writing about Saturn's moon, Titan!

Titan in it's natural color

Titan is the largest moon of Saturn and also the second largest moon in the Solar System and is the only known moon with a dense atmosphere.

It was the first known moon to Saturn, discovered in 1655 by a Dutch astronomer named Christiaan Huygens.

Christiaan Huygens - Caspar Netscher, Museum Hofwijck, Voorburg

Titan has a diameter of about 1,150 km, almost 1.5 times the size of our Moon.

Titan, Moon and Earth size comparison

It is believed to have a silicate core which is surrounded by ice and water with a rocky surface,

As I already mentioned, Titan is the only moon that has a dense atmosphere, and also the only atmosphere in the Solar System, besides the one of Earth, that is rich on nitrogen, consisting of nearly 98.5% nitrogen.

Titan's atmosphere in natural color

The temperature on Titan is about -180°C and it is believed to have methane clouds which sort for a greenhouse effect, without which Titan would be much much colder.

Equatorial clouds on Titan

Some research suggest that there is enough organic material on Titan that it is possible that it contains some sort of life, by some speculated there might be an ocean bellow the surface where life could be possible, even though the conditions would be too extreme for most life on Earth.

Some scientists even point out to Titan as one of possible colonies for the Human race.

An artists imagination of Titan