First hints of waves on Titan's seas

[Crisp]

First hints of waves on Titan's seas

 

Reflections on the oceans of Saturn's largest moon suggest long-sought extraterrestrial ripples.

 

The Cassini spacecraft has spotted what seem to be tiny waves on the seas of Titan.

 

After years of searching, planetary scientists think they may finally have spotted waves rippling on the seas of Titan, Saturn?s largest moon. If confirmed, this would be the first discovery of ocean waves beyond Earth.

NASA?s Cassini spacecraft spied several unusual glints of sunlight off the surface of Punga Mare, one of Titan?s hydrocarbon seas, in 2012 and 2013. Those reflections may come from tiny ripples, no more than 2 centimetres high, that are disturbing the otherwise flat ocean, says Jason Barnes, a planetary scientist at the University of Idaho in Moscow.

Barnes presented the findings today at the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, where a second talk hinted at the presence of waves in another of Titan?s seas.

Researchers expect more waves to appear in the next few years, because winds are anticipated to pick up as Titan?s northern hemisphere ? where most of its seas are located ? emerges from winter and approaches spring.

 

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