INBOX ASTRONOMY
Webb's Titan Forecast: Partly Cloudy With Occasional Methane Showers
Release date: Wednesday, May 14, 2025 8:00:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time
Astronomers see evidence of clouds bubbling up over Titan’s northern hemisphere.
Saturn’s moon Titan is the only solar system moon with a substantial atmosphere. It also contains a soup of carbon-containing molecules, making it an intriguing target for astrobiological studies despite its frigid temperature of about -290 degrees Fahrenheit (-180 degrees Celsius).
Astronomers have used both probes like Cassini/Huygens and ground-based telescopes like the W.M. Keck Observatories to monitor weather on Titan. Now, a team has combined data from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope and the Keck II telescope to see evidence of cloud convection in Titan’s northern hemisphere for the first time. Most of Titan’s lakes and seas are located in that hemisphere, and are likely replenished by an occasional rain of methane and ethane.
Find additional articles, images, and videos at
WebbTelescope.org
Please do not reply to this message.
You are receiving this email because you are subscribed to the Inbox Astronomy mailing list.
Produced by the Space Telescope Science Institute's
Office of Public Outreach