Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Titan's Alien Thunder

Posted by Hemos on from the good-news-if-true dept.

An anonymous reader writes "What is not being reported much about the fascinating Huygens descent to the surface of Saturn's largest moon, Titan, is its remarkable microphone. In the silence of space, the probe offers a platform for listening to alien thunder while watching the lightning strike on this alien world--the only moon with an atmosphere thicker than our terrestrial one. The probe detaches from Cassini on Christmas for its atmospheric entry on 14 January 2005. The landing target on Titan borders a bright-dark region thought to be an oil-rich shoreline. Huygens can float for a few hours while still broadcasting if it lands in a lake of oil."

5 of 222 comments (clear)

  1. Alien thunder by BWJones · · Score: 5, Informative

    Titan may offer the first chance for a terrifying symphony of alien thunder.

    Alien thunder?.........hrmmmmm......new, name......for a band? Yeah, that's it.

    On a more serious note, here is the link to the Cassini-Huygens main page complete with a tital flyby schedule, a flyby mission description, photo essay including some amazing images of the rings of Saturn, Titan and more.

    --
    Visit Jonesblog and say hello.
    1. Re:Alien thunder by another_henry · · Score: 5, Informative

      Heavy oils on Earth are generally created by chemical processes acting on dead microorganisms over geological time. The "oil" on Titan is hardly oil at all, it's light short-chain hydrocarbons such as methane (CH4), ethane (C2CH6) and propane (C3CH8) which would be gases on Earth. These are much easier to form "abiotically", i.e. without life. In face the gas giant outer planets Uranus and Neptune have large amounts of methane in their atmospheres. (IANAAstronomer)

      --
      "Studies have shown that people who eat peanuts live longer than those who do not eat."
    2. Re:Alien thunder by another_henry · · Score: 5, Informative

      Those molecular formulae should be CH4, C2H6 and C3H8 respectively. Improper backspacing, sorry.

      --
      "Studies have shown that people who eat peanuts live longer than those who do not eat."
    3. Re:Alien thunder by praedictus · · Score: 5, Informative

      The person who came up with the abiotic theory is largely regarded as a crackpot. Methane can be generated abiotically and there may be reserves related to this, but crude is full of degenerate organically derived molecules - cracked chlorophyll and other such things. Host reservoirs are categorized by the degree of such decomposition - see Vitrinite Reflectance Index. The Athabaska tar sands are Cretaceous, they merely overly the Shield.

      --
      Watashi wa chikyubutsurigakusha desu.
  2. Re:For all the NASA jokes... by strictfoo · · Score: 5, Informative

    you HAVE to be amazed by what they have accomplished on an ever-shrinking budget.

    Actually, NASA's bugett has basically been constant, receiving small increases to adjust for inflation.

    1999 - ~$13.6B
    2000 - ~$14B
    2001 - ~$14.5B
    2002 - ~$14.5B
    2003 - ~$15B

    --
    I've just signed legislation that'll outlaw Russia forever. We'll begin bombing in five minutes.