This mysterious object suddenly appeared in the sea of Ligeia on Titan (the moon of Saturn) and was named by astronomers "The Magic Island". While none of the scientists knows what this mysterious "island" is, which has a strange "habit" to disappear and reappear.
Ligeia Sea, with an area of 100,000 sq. km, mainly composed of ethane and methane, it is located in the northern hemisphere of the moon of Saturn. Mysterious "island" with an area of about 260 sq. km in this sea was recorded thanks to images obtained from the automatic apparatus "Cassini-Huygens".
UP, DISAPPEARED AND APPEARED AGAIN
“We can't be sure exactly what it is, because we only have one image. But this object has never existed on Titan before,”commented Jason Hofgertner from Cornell University (USA) on the discovery of a mysterious formation in the Ligeia Sea on Saturn’s moon, nicknamed“The Magic Island”by astronomers.
Ligeia Sea, with an area of 100,000 sq. km, mainly composed of ethane and methane, it is located in the northern hemisphere of the moon of Saturn. Mysterious "island" with an area of about 260 sq. km in this sea was recorded thanks to images obtained from the automatic spacecraft "Cassini-Huygens", created by NASA in conjunction with the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency.
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The "island" first appeared in the picture in July 2013, although it was absent before. Then the mysterious object disappeared for several months and Cassini was again recorded on August 21, 2014, while the shape and area of the "island" clearly changed.
Scientists are confident that any equipment errors are completely excluded and the object really exists, it remains only to try to explain its nature.
“Science loves riddles, and thanks to this phenomenon we have a great example of the changes taking place on Titan,” Cassini team member Stephen Wall said in a NASA statement. "We hope that we can continue to observe changes and get an idea of what is happening in this alien sea."
THE LARGEST SATELLITE OF SATURN
It should be noted that Titan has long attracted the attention of scientists. It is the largest of the 62 known satellites of Saturn. Titanium was discovered in 1655 by the Dutch astronomer Christian Huygens.
For a long time, the dense atmosphere of the satellite did not allow astronomers to see its surface. Only in 2005, with the arrival of the Cassini spacecraft with the Huygens probe, many secrets of this celestial body were revealed.
In 2007, with the help of Cassini, it was possible to open the Kraken Sea satellite in the northern hemisphere, named after the legendary sea monster. The Sea of Ligeia, the second largest reservoir with methane and ethane and other liquefied gases, was also discovered.
The temperature on Titan's surface is about minus 179 ° C, hydrogen cyanide is present in the atmosphere; as you can see, the conditions for human existence are clearly unacceptable, however, scientists fully admit the presence of the simplest forms of life on a satellite. It is believed that Titan is the second object in the solar system after the Earth, having on its surface seas, lakes and rivers from a liquid medium.
It should be noted that the study of an object as distant from Earth as Titan takes a very significant time. For example, to obtain the first sensational results of the Cassini-Huygens mission, it took almost 25 years, seven of which were spent on the Cassini flight with a probe to Titan.
The descent of "Huygens" to Titan took place at a distance of 1 billion 250 million km from the Earth, at such a distance scientists could no longer change or correct anything, all that remained was to believe in the correctness of the calculations, the reliability of the equipment and good luck. When the signal from the Huygens was received, the Mission Control Center breathed a sigh of relief.
The probe took nearly 350 images of Titan and its atmosphere, recorded the sounds of the raging wind at the landing site, and even drilled the ground with a small probe. The landscape at the landing site turned out to be rather flat with slight uplifts, with a rocky desert in the foreground.
With the help of a probe, it was possible to establish that the surface in the landing area is covered with a thin crust, under which there is a substance resembling wet sand or clay.
Scientists have fully confirmed the assumption that Titan is similar to the Earth, as it was 4 billion years ago before the origin of life on it. Thus, by studying Titan, scientists will be able to look into the distant past of our planet.
THE "ISLAND" STILL REMAINS A Mystery
The mysterious "island" discovered on Titan only added interest to this space object. While there are several assumptions explaining the appearance and disappearance of the "Magic Island".
Some consider it to be a piece of land that testifies to dynamic geological processes taking place on Titan, while others believe that it was taken for the island by rising solid particles or gas bubbles, or waves on the surface of the Ligeia Sea. Still others believe that this is a huge iceberg.
There is also an opinion that the appearance of the "Magic Island" could be associated with the winter established on Titan with its tides, waves, winds and rains (by the way, the year on the satellite of Saturn lasts about 30 Earth years).
These winter conditions caused the particles suspended in the liquid to gradually solidify and then rise to the surface of the sea. They even talk about an analogue of the earth's silt, which from time to time settles, then floats back to the surface. While none of the versions has become a priority, further research is required to unravel the mystery of the "Magic Island".
“The images of the Cassini spacecraft showed us that the fluids in the northern hemisphere of the satellite are not stagnant, but quite dynamic and mobile. Now we cannot say for sure what causes the appearance and disappearance of the "magic island" ", - notes one of the lead authors of the study, Jason Hofgertner.
