Friday, August 14, 2009

Scientists discover storms in the tropics of Titan

Astronomy.com - August 13, 2009
For all its similarities to Earth-clouds that pour rain — albeit liquid methane not liquid water — onto the surface producing lakes and rivers, vast dune fields in desert-like regions, plus a smoggy orange atmosphere, Saturn's largest moon, Titan, is generally "a very bland place," according to Mike Brown of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech).
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The day after the telescope's big find, Schaller, Brown, and Roe began tracking the clouds with the large Gemini telescope on Mauna Kea and watched this system evolve for a month. "And what a cool show it was," Brown said.
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