Scientists Believe That There Could Be Life on Titan, and It’s Even Stranger than We Thought!

can a moon be the twin of the earth throughout the solar system there is only one Celestial body that is eerily similar to Earth Saturn's moon Titan only on Titan are there Landscapes on the surface with rivers lakes and seas what scientists have discovered on Titan has taken their breath away the evidence of potential life on Titan has been provided and this life probably looks even Stranger than we thought Come Along on this journey to a fascinating World more than one billion kilometers away Titan a moon resembling our Earth when the Dutch astronomer Christian Huygens observed a small object near Saturn on March 25th 1655 he had no idea what this discovery would mean for Humanity one day today we know that Titan is the second largest moon in the solar system and the only truly Earth-like object only on Titan are there flows of liquid substances that form Rich Landscapes with Lakes seas and rivers the rocky moon Titan is about twice the size of Earth's moon and about half the size of Earth its composition is somewhat different overall making Titan much lighter than Earth due to its lower Mass Titan also has a significantly weaker surface gravity the surface gravity on Titan is about 1.35 meters per second squared while on Earth it's about 9.81 meters per second squared that means the gravity on Titan is approximately seven times weaker than on Earth Titan is very well explored Titan has been visited multiple times by spacecraft throughout the history of space exploration Pioneer 11 made a flyby in 1979 during its Journey Through the outer regions of the solar system and provided the first image of Titan the moon appeared as a homogenous yellow sphere and at that time it was impossible to anticipate the mystery that would be revealed here Voyager 1 followed shortly after delivering a slightly darker depiction of Titan even after this image no one had the idea of comparing the moon which appeared like a juicy orange to Earth this perception remained unchanged when Voyager 2 captured an image in 1981 that appeared to be a peculiar blend of the two previous photographs cassini's image of Titan was quite different in particular the spectrometer recordings provided insights into Titan's diverse surface at this point scientists already knew from images taken by Hubble several years earlier that the moon was geologically very active and potentially provided conditions for life Cassini Hawkins was therefore on a very different Mission compared to its predecessor probes the huygenslander was specifically designed to descend onto Titan and send back the first images and data from its surface on January 14 2005 after a multi-year journey through the solar system the Dual probe finally reached Saturn's moon Titan about 20 days later on January 25th 2005 when Huygens entered Titan's atmosphere NASA scientists held their breath would humans soon see for the first time a foreign World resembling Earth with Lakes Landscapes and possibly even trees or living beings Titans thick atmosphere until this historic moment it was as if the mysterious Titan was playing hide and seek with curious humans enveloped in a thick orange yellow atmosphere it was impossible for us to look at the moon's surface until the huygen's mission Hubble scans and many other observations with the world's best telescopes had already provided many Clues but they could not be compared to real images and measurement data although Titan and Earth are similar in many ways there are also significant differences earth's surface is visible from space our planet shines brightly allowing views of continents oceans and the poles this effect depends on the composition of the atmosphere nitrogen oxygen and carbon dioxide in the layers as they occur in our atmosphere allow sunlight to pass through at all times the Earth's surface reflects it making our planet grow brightly and the atmosphere appear transparent Titan's atmosphere is much denser and less sunlight reaches its surface Titan reflects very little light making it impossible to get an external view of the moon's structures and landscapes Huygens Landing at 11 30 a.m local time in the NASA control center in Houston Texas the Huygens probe separated from the mother spacecraft Cassini 25 minutes later organs reached an altitude of about 160 kilometers above the surface of Titan at this point the parachutes were deployed to slow down the probe's speed and enable a gentle Landing during this phase the probe collected thousands of data points and performed continuous measurements these measurements included capturing temperature pressure density and electric fields in the structure of the atmosphere at 1208 PM organs was hovering about 40 kilometers above the surface of Titan at this altitude the Huygens Doppler wind experiment attached to a cable was activated to measure wind speed and direction approximately 10 minutes remained and there were only 20 kilometers between Huygens and the surface of Titan at this point the infrared spectrometer and gas chromatograph Mass spectrometer were activated to collect even more detailed data about the chemical composition of the atmosphere at 10 kilometers above the surface the probe switched to the mode for measuring electricity and started to detect electrical discharges in the atmosphere at 12 34 PM the Huygens probe finally reached Titan descending at a speed of about 5 meters per second the Lander successfully touched down on the surface Jubilation erupted at Nasa but the most exciting part of the mission was yet to begin after landing the probe started recording data about the ground composition temperature and pressure Boykins transmitted data and photos from the surface for 90 minutes then the probe's batteries failed the mission was designed to be brief from the beginning the time was sufficient for scientists to gather all crucial data about Titan and their efforts were generously rewarded never before had so much data been directly obtained from a Celestial body so far away on its surface prior to Huygens Landers had only touched down on the Moon Mars and Venus what do we know now about Titan Titan's thick atmosphere of nitrogen hydrocarbons and other organic compounds extends about 10 times further into space than the Earth's organs determined the boundary of the troposphere at an altitude of approximately 44 kilometers this is also where the atmosphere's minimum temperature was measured with a temperature of negative 200 degrees Celsius Titan's environment is significantly colder than Earth's inside the temperature rises again reaching about negative 121 degrees Celsius at an altitude of 500 kilometers however Titan is still much colder than Earth this was not a big surprise for scientists as Titan receives only a fraction of the solar radiation the ionosphere of Titan surprised researchers with its complex structure the main zone is located at an altitude of 1200 kilometers at 63 kilometers a band of charged particles extends dividing the Titan atmosphere into two Chambers similar to Earth Titan's atmosphere is rich in nitrogen Boykins determined that it contains 95 nitrogen and approximately five percent methane with the methane concentration increasing significantly in the upper layers methane is a gas found on Earth as a byproduct of single-celled organisms and also as a result of digestion in complex organisms like cows or humans methane is produced in swamps and is stored in large quantities in the permafrost soils in the northern hemisphere therefore methane is a clear bio indicator where the gas is present there is a high probability of organic life however methane is not only produced by organic structures so it's not a definite guarantee of life in the case of Titan methane exists in an extraordinarily large quantity and in unusual forms as the Cassini Hawkins Mission continued researchers found that the liquid Cycles on Titan likely rely exclusively on methane and ethane similar to Earth these two liquids form lakes and seas on Titan with gentle solar radiation the liquids evaporate the molecules rise in the atmosphere and then fall back to the surface as precipitation the landscape formations that are formed on Titan bear a dramatic resemblance to those on Earth yet the question remained can life thrive in such an environment this is what life on Titan looks like shortly after the Huygens Mission the evidence was presented life on Titan is possible the fact that Titan's Landscapes consist of methane and ethane does not necessarily mean that there is no life there in fact the number of biomarkers found in the atmosphere indicates the possibility of life and two experiments demonstrated that bacteria can Thrive based on methane researchers at the University of Florida cultivated microbes in an experimental setup that perfectly simulated the conditions on Titan in a short time the DNA of these microorganisms adapted and they began to establish a metabolism based on methane a research team from France obtained very similar results providing the evidence for possible life on Titans twice but what would life on Titan look like in Practical terms if there are living organisms in the lakes or oceans they are very likely to be single celled perhaps even simple plants like algae or lichens there may also be organisms resembling mollusks or fish in the oceans researchers had already ruled out the development of complex life before the Huygens Mission because according to current knowledge sunlight is necessary for that on Earth certain species of fish mollusks or amphibians Thrive entirely without sunlight and at low temperatures in caves deep underground or in dark ocean trenches to be certain of what life on Titan looks like we would need to find it and for that additional probes or even a Rover would be necessary however it's probably already clear that these life forms would look much stranger than we can imagine and they would likely have completely different respiratory and metabolic organs people on Titan is that possible the exciting question remains whether humans could live on Titan numerous experiments explore which celestial bodies we can visit and explore with its Earth-like structures Titan should in theory be perfectly suitable for that right well let's put it this way a spacecraft from Earth could safely land on Titan encased in protective spacesuits humans could likely stay on the moon for several hours or even days take soil samples conduct Explorations and search for signs of life however without the protection of a Space Capsule and constantly exposed to the surface conditions humans would have to capitulate very quickly on Titan the atmosphere's vapors and the cold would be challenging for the organism as would be the lower gravity so far researchers find it difficult to estimate the effects of Titan's proximity to Saturn with its extreme magnetic forces although Titan is a beautiful and exciting place for space exploration the living conditions there would not be suitable for us in the long run would you volunteer for a space flight and a first exploration on Titan or which other Celestial body would you like to visit someday [Music]

Channel: TheSimplySpace

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Length: 12min 43sec (763 seconds)

Published: Fri Aug 11 2023