REAL LIFE THINGS: THINGS WE DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT MOONS
by Hazed
In the dying weeks of last year a few stories about some of the Solar System’s moons appeared:
Saturn’s moon Titan has vast polar methane seas
The Cassini spacecraft is still orbiting Titan and it’s sending back images of the planet. Recent photos are the clearest evidence we’ve seen that there are vast seas of methane at the north pole. Get the details and see a picture here: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/12/12/cassini_spots_megamethane_sea_on_the_north_pole_of_titan/
I really should amend Fed’s version of Titan, to add a methane sea upon which you can take a sailing trip.
Jupiter’s moon Europa sprays water into space
Scientists examining images from the Hubble Space Telescope have identified huge plumes of water vapour erupting from Europa’s frozen surface. The geysers are near the south pole of the moon and provide proof that there’s a vast liquid ocean beneath the icy crust. Details here: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/12/13/europa_moon_orbiting_jupiter_seen_water/
As a bonus, here’s an amazingly detailed picture of Europa: http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap131215.html