Mysterious Changing feature on Titan

Astronomy Picture of the Day · 2014-10-15 · NASA (public domain)

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Mysterious Changing feature on Titan — APOD for 2014-10-15

What is that changing object in a cold hydrocarbon sea of Titan? Radar images from the robotic Cassini spacecraft orbiting Saturn have been recording the surface of the cloud-engulfed moon Titan for years. When imaging the flat -- and hence radar dark -- surface of the methane and ethane lake called Ligeia Mare , an object appeared in 2013 just was not there in 2007. Subsequent observations in 2014 found the object remained -- but had changed! The featured image shows how the 20-km long object has appeared and evolved. Current origin speculative explanations include bubbling foam and floating solids , but no one is sure. Future observations may either resolve the enigma or open up more speculation.

Astronomy Picture of the Day for 2014-10-15 — image & explanation courtesy of NASA (public domain), mirrored at Tukuk-OS for reading and search convenience.

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