The first ocean discovered beyond Earth may have been found on Saturn’s moon Titan. New radar images captured by the Cassini spacecraft reveal what appears to be a distinct shoreline.
It seems that this ocean is supplied with liquid by meandering channels that carve deep into the surrounding terrain. Steve Wall, the deputy leader of Cassini’s radar team, mentioned that a dark, flat area next to the brighter shoreline “is a region where liquid or a damp surface seems to exist, either now or in the recent past.”
However, instead of water, the liquid in this case is believed to be methane, which allows liquids on Titan to remain at a surface temperature of -179 degrees Celsius. Liquid methane seas, possibly mixed with other hydrocarbons, have long been thought to exist on Titan, the second-largest moon in the solar system. This is also the only moon with a thick atmosphere—thicker than that of Earth.
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