Lacs sur Titan (lune de Saturne)
What is that changing object in a cold
hydrocarbon sea of Titan?
Radar images from the robotic
Cassini spacecraft orbiting
Saturn
have been recording the surface of the cloud-engulfed moon
Titan for years.
When imaging the flat -- and hence radar dark -- surface of the
methane and
ethane lake called
Ligeia Mare,
an object appeared in 2013 July just was not there in 2007.
Subsequent observations in 2014 August found
the object remained -- but had changed.
In an image released last week, the mystery object seems to have disappeared in 2015 January.
The featured false-color image
shows how the 20-km long object has come, changed, and gone.
Current origin speculative explanations include
waves,
bubbling foam and
floating solids, but still no one is sure.
Future observations, in particular Cassini's
final close
flyby
of Titan in 2017 April, may either resolve the enigma or open up more speculation.