Scientists Track Methane Clouds Wafting Over Titan’s Lakes for the First Time

Saturn’s most metal moon just got more intriguing. On Titan, clouds of methane unleash a cold, oily rain—very different from the water-based downpours we see on Earth. For the first time, scientists have collected evidence of cloud convection in Titan’s northern hemisphere, observing the moon’s methane clouds shifting over time above its eerie lakes. By combining data from the Webb space telescope and the Keck Observatory in Hawaii, a group of scientists observed Titan’s clouds rising to higher altitudes over time. This new discovery marks the first time cloud convection is seen taking place in the moon’s northern hemisphere, where most of Titan’s lakes and seas of liquid methane are located. The findings are detailed in a study published this week in the journal Nature. “This enables us to better understand Titan’s climate cycle, how the methane clouds may generate rain and replenish methane evaporated from the lakes,” Conor Nixon, research scientist with NASA Goddard Space Flight C ... Read full article.