Winter is coming on Titan ’s south magnetic pole , according to the a la mode analysis fromCassini . The investigation has been honor the formation of a heavy frozen cloud in Titan ’s stratosphere .
The cloud was discover by Cassini ’s Composite Infrared Spectrometer ( CIRS ) , which was able-bodied to look through the different layers of the atm and discover the huge disruption , according to preliminary findings . The cloud is 240 kilometers ( 150 miles ) across , and composed mostly of hydrocarbon , nitrogen compounds called cyanide , andhydrogen cyanide .
The cloud peaks at an altitude of 200 km ( 124 miles ) . It has a very miserable compactness , which is reportedly consanguineal to Earth ’s fogginess but likely flat on top . This is not the first polar cloud observed around the south perch ; another smaller one was abide by in 2012 extend to a high altitude .
When Cassini arrive in 2004 , the south pole was mid - summertime and ice-skating rink cloud were seen in the opposite pole . But as the season changed , the global atmospherical circulation deepen , moving gas from the Frederick North to the Dixie .
Titan ’s season last for 7.5 years . The season depend on Saturn ’s range inclinations ; only one magnetic pole is illuminated at a time . This disparity in sun generates movements in the aura and sends warmer gas from the summertime pole towards the other , where it cool down down and sump into a cloud .
All the entropy that was interpolate from the cloud image ( its size of it , elevation and writing ) are used by scientist to understand what the onset of winter is like on Titan . Based on the 2012 swarm observations , the temperature in the south pole must get down to at least -150 ° C ( -230 ° F ) . The new observations will assist fine-tune this estimate .
“ The chance to see the early stagecoach of winter on Titan is very exciting , ” said Robert Samuelson from NASA ’s Goddard Space Flight Center , who worked on this research , in astatement . “ Everything we are finding at the south rod tells us that the attack of southern winter is much more stern than the late stages of Titan ’s northerly winter . ”
Cassini will continue to sporadically study the southern cerebral hemisphere of Titan until 2017 , when its mission will end .
Image in text : Cassini ’s television camera discern this impressive cloud hovering in a 2012 close - up of Titan ’s south pole , by NASA / JPL - Caltech / Space Science Institute
