Lakes of Titan facts for kids

Lakes of liquid ethane, methane and nitrogen on Titan. The large lake at the lower left is Kraken Mare.

The lakes of Titan are amazing bodies of liquid on Titan, which is a large moon of Saturn. Unlike lakes on Earth, these lakes are not made of water. Instead, they are filled with super-cold liquid methane and ethane.

Scientists first thought Titan might have liquid on its surface after the Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 probes flew by. They saw that Titan had a thick atmosphere, which could support lakes. Later, in 1995, the Hubble Space Telescope and other telescopes gave more clues.

The Cassini-Huygens space probe was sent to explore Saturn and its moons. When it arrived in 2004, scientists hoped to see reflections from liquid lakes. At first, they didn't find any.

Discovering Titan's Lakes

Scientists still believed that liquid ethane and methane would be found near Titan's poles. This is where they expected to find a lot of liquid.

First Discoveries

At Titan's south pole, a large dark area called Ontario Lacus was the first lake identified. It might have been formed by rain, as clouds are often seen there. Radar images also showed a possible shoreline.

On July 22, 2006, the Cassini-Huygens probe flew over Titan's northern part. This area was in its winter season. The probe's radar took pictures of many large, smooth areas.

In January 2007, scientists announced they had "definite proof" of methane lakes on Titan. The Cassini-Huygens team decided these smooth areas were the hydrocarbon lakes they had been looking for. These were the first lakes found anywhere in space besides Earth! Some valleys even looked like they had rivers.

More Evidence

The Cassini-Huygens probe flew by again in February 2007. It took radar and camera pictures of large areas near the north pole. These areas seemed to be huge bodies of liquid methane and ethane. One "sea" was bigger than Lake Superior on Earth. Another was similar in size to the Caspian Sea.

In October 2007, pictures of Titan's southern pole showed smaller areas that also looked like lakes.

Size comparison of Ligeia Mare on Titan and Lake Superior on Earth.

Chemical Proof

In December 2007, the Cassini-Huygens probe flew very close to Titan. It took infrared pictures to study the chemicals on the surface. It found a lake called Ontario Lacus near the south pole.

Scientists confirmed that one or more of the large lakes on Titan held liquid. This liquid was made of hydrocarbons, including ethane. This mission proved that Titan is the only other place known in our Solar System to have liquid on its surface.

The lakes make Titan very important for studying weather science. Liquids, gases, and temperatures all play a role on Titan. This helps us understand weather better, even on Earth.

What About the Equator?

Lakes were not found near Titan's equator. The Huygens part of the probe landed there on January 14, 2005. The pictures it took as it fell showed no open areas of liquid. Instead, it showed rivers that had dried up.

At first, scientists thought a dark area near the center of Titan might be a lake or a tar-like substance. But the probe landed on this dark area and found it was solid. A device called a penetrometer studied the surface as the probe landed. It seemed to find wet clay. However, scientists now think the penetrometer might have landed on a large pebble. They say the surface is like sand made of ice. Pictures taken after the probe landed showed a flat area covered in pebbles. These pebbles might be made of water ice and are partly rounded, suggesting they were shaped by liquids.

Huge Hydrocarbon Reserves

On February 13, 2008, scientists announced that Titan's polar lakes hold "hundreds of times more natural gas and other hydrocarbons than all the known natural gas on Earth." Even the dry areas near the center of Titan have more organic materials than Earth.

In June 2008, Cassini's Visible and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer confirmed liquid ethane in a lake in Titan's southern half.

Scientists predict that during Titan's year, liquid moves from the equator to the poles. It travels in clouds and falls as rain, creating the lakes.

Names of Titan's Lakes and Seas

The large hydrocarbon seas on Titan are called maria (plural of mare). They are named after sea monsters from Earth's myths.

Smaller liquid areas are called lacus (plural lacūs). They are named after lakes on Earth.

See also

• Solar System

The Solar System
Sun • Heliosphere	Planets ☾ = moon(s) ∅ = rings		Mercury	Venus	Earth ☾	Mars ☾
			Jupiter ☾ ∅	Saturn ☾ ∅	Uranus ☾ ∅	Neptune ☾ ∅
	Dwarf planets		Ceres	Pluto ☾	Haumea ☾	Makemake
			Eris ☾
	Small Solar System bodies	Asteroids (minor planets)	Groups and families: Vulcanoids · Near-Earth asteroids · Asteroid belt Jupiter Trojans · Centaurs · Neptune Trojans · Asteroid moons · Meteoroids · Pallas · Juno · Vesta · Hygiea · Interamnia · Europa
			See also the list of asteroids.
		Trans- Neptunians	Kuiper belt – Plutinos: Orcus · Ixion – Cubewanos: Varuna · Quaoar · Huya
			Scattered disc: Sedna
		Comets	Periodic comets and non-periodic comets Damocloids · Oort cloud
See also the list of solar system objects

Images for kids

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  Picture of Titan taken during the Huygens landing, showing hills, rivers and beaches.

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  Methane lakes on Titan: Cassini radar image, 2006.

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  Titan lakes (September 11, 2017)
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  Radargram acquired by the Cassini RADAR altimeter showing the surface and seafloor of Ligeia Mare along the transect highlined by the red line. In each column is shown the received power as function of time.

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  Vid Flumina, a 400 km (250 mi) long river emptying into Ligeia Mare (in lower right corner of top image).

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  Infrared specular reflection off Jingpo Lacus, a north polar body of liquid.

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  Near-infrared radiation from the Sun reflecting off Titan's hydrocarbon seas.

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  Rimmed lakes of Titan (artist concept).

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  False-color near infrared view of Titan's northern hemisphere, showing its seas and lakes. Orange areas near some of them may be deposits of organic evaporite left behind by receding liquid hydrocarbon.

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  Intricate networks of channels drain into Kraken Mare (lower left) and Ligeia Mare (upper right).

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  Titan's "kissing lakes", formally named Abaya Lacus, about 65 km (40 mi) across.

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  Feia Lacus, about 47 km (29 mi) across, a lake with several large peninsulas.

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  Cassini view of Titan's north polar seas and lakes in the near infrared. Ligeia Mare is at top; Punga Mare is below it and Kraken Mare is to its lower right.

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  Titan's north polar lakes appear to have been stable for at least one Titanean season (seven Earth years).

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  Natural color visible-near infrared view of Titan showing its north polar seas and lakes at upper left.

See also

In Spanish: Lagos de Titán para niños