Saturn’s Moon Titan

Celeste Banda

History of Titan

• Titan was discovered on March 25, 1655.• Christiaan Huygens discovered and named it

Saturni Luna.• It was given its current name by John

Herschel.

About Titan

• Titan is the 2nd largest moon in the Solar System.

• It was the first of Saturn’s moons to be discovered.

• Titan is perhaps the most Earth-like place in the Solar System.

• Titan is larger than the planet Mercury.

Atmosphere

• Titan has an atmosphere.• It is the only known moon to have one.• It is mainly made up of nitrogen.• Like Earth, it is dominated by seasonal

weather patterns.

Diagram of Titan

Interior

Cassini-Huygens

• Launched October 15, 1997 and the Huygens probe eventually separated and landed on Titan on January 14, 2005.

• Has shown that the environment looks somewhat like what is thought primordial Earth looked like.

Future

• Conditions could become more habitable.• When the Sun becomes a red giant,

temperatures on Titan will increase which can create an environment suitable for life to exist.

• A Titan Mare Explorer (TiME) has been proposed and would be able to launch in 2015.

Sources

http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Titan_%28moon%29http://www.solarviews.com/eng/titan.htmhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titan_%28moon%29http://www.mlahanas.de/Greeks/Astro/Titan.html