Cassini spots monstrous ice cloud on the surface of Saturn’s moon Titan

NASA released the images captured by the Cassini spacecraft just recently.

Scientists reviewing infrared data from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft discovered a “monstrous” ice cloud on Saturn’s largest moon, the space agency announced Wednesday. In 2012, Cassini revealed another giant cloud looming over the same location, at 186 miles altitude. The gargantuan cloud floats 124 miles above the moon’s surface in the low- to mid-stratosphere, a region above the troposphere.

The cloud buildup within the south pole was deemed an indicator that the worldwide circulation of Titan is altering. One season on Titan last approximately seven and a half years as we measure them on Earth. The findings were presented on November 11th during the Meeting of the Division of Planetary Sciences of the American Astronomical Society.

Since each season on Titan averages 7 ½ years of that of Earth’s, it is highly likely that the south pole will be covered in winter by the time the Cassini completes its mission in 2017. Considering its low density, the cloud of the object is just like fog on Earth, NASA reported. Once the sinking gas encounters colder temperatures closer to the surface, it condenses into cloud-like formations. When the altitude is high enough for condensation to occur, rain clouds are formed.

Whilst a few clouds are created through a similar process in Titan’s atmosphere, the polar cloud is believed to have developed via a different method.

The new cloud spans about 5 degrees in latitude which corresponds to about (240 km) across.

The small bright button represents the ice cloud on Titan.

The found ice particles are made up of a variety of compounds such as hydrogen, carbon and nitrogen.

The new cloud was found in the lower stratosphere where temperatures are even colder, the scientists said. “The whole lot we’re discovering on the south pole tells us that the onset of southern winter is way more extreme than the late levels of Titan’s northern winter”, he shared.

The composition of the polar ice cloud, together with its altitude and size will enable scientists to analyze the severity and nature of winter on Titan.

From the ice cloud seen earlier by Cassini’s camera, scientists determined that temperatures at the south pole must get down to at least -238 degrees Fahrenheit (-150 degrees Celsius).

“The opportunity to see the early stages of winter on Titan is very exciting”, said Robert Samuelson, of the Goddard Space Flight Center.

Anderson and her colleagues had found the same signature in CIRS data from the north pole, but in that case, the signal was much weaker.