ZME Science
No Result
View All Result
ZME Science
No Result
View All Result
ZME Science

Home → Science

Saturn’s moon Titan may be older than Saturn itself

Dragos MitricabyDragos Mitrica
June 26, 2014
in Science
A A
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterSubmit to Reddit

Titan is in the spolight again! After astronomers spotted a passing geological feature, now a joint team from NASA and ESA found evidence that the moon may have formed before its planet.

Generally, moons take shape after planets – but now, researchers have found convincing evidence that the nitrogen in Titan’s atmosphere originated in ancient conditions, in the cold birthplace of the most ancient comets from the Oort cloud — a spherical shell of icy particles that enshrouds the Solar System.

The evidence they found was isotopical. Isotopes provide valuable insight into the origin of things – be them planets or rock samples. Basically, in planetary sciences, there are many cases where the ratio of one isotope to another can provide crucial information regarding the age of planets – the ratio of isotope A to isotope B tells you how old it is (sort of).

Kathleen Mandt from the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio and colleagues analyzed the ratio of nitrogen-14 (seven protons and seven neutrons) to nitrogen-15 (seven protons and eight neutrons) in Titan’s atmosphere.

“When we looked closely at how this ratio could evolve with time, we found that it was impossible for it to change significantly,” Mandt said in a press release. “Titan’s atmosphere contains so much nitrogen that no process can significantly modify this tracer even given more than four billion years of Solar System history.”

What they found was that the Solar System was simply not old enough for the isotope ratio to change like it has – which seems to indicate that Titan has its origin in the Oort Cloud. The Oort cloud is a cloud of predominantly icy debris believed to surround the Sun at up to 50,000 AU; if their results are correct, then Titan was created before the Earth and most of the Solar System as a dwarf planet and then was captured into orbit around Saturn.

“This exciting result is a key example of Cassini science informing our knowledge of the history of [the] Solar System and how Earth formed,” said Scott Edgington, Cassini deputy project scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

The research was published this week in the Astrophysical Journal Letters.

RelatedPosts

Curiosity observations show extreme pressure swings on Mars
Green visitor to pass through the solar system
SpaceX reveals plans for world’s most powerful rocket
Boeing will build spacecraft for shuttle hangar

 

Tags: Astrophysical Journal LettersesanasaOort Cloudtitan

ShareTweetShare
Dragos Mitrica

Dragos Mitrica

Dragos has been working in geology for six years, and loving every minute of it. Now, his more recent focus is on paleoclimate and climatic evolution, though in his spare time, he also dedicates a lot of time to chaos theory and complex systems.

Related Posts

Agriculture

Astronauts May Soon Eat Fresh Fish Farmed on the Moon

byTudor Tarita
2 months ago
Future

NASA Captured a Supersonic Jet Breaking the Sound Barrier and the Image Is Unreal

byTibi Puiu
2 months ago
News

NASA’s Curiosity Rover Spotted Driving Across Mars From Space for the First Time

byTibi Puiu
2 months ago
Climate

Trump’s Budget Plan Is Eviscerating NASA and NOAA Science

byMihai Andrei
3 months ago

Recent news

Your gut has a secret weapon against ‘forever chemicals’: microbes

July 3, 2025

High IQ People Are Strikingly Better at Forecasting the Future

July 3, 2025

Newborns Feel Pain Long Before They Can Understand It

July 3, 2025
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Editorial Policy
  • Privacy Policy and Terms of Use
  • How we review products
  • Contact

© 2007-2025 ZME Science - Not exactly rocket science. All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • Science News
  • Environment
  • Health
  • Space
  • Future
  • Features
    • Natural Sciences
    • Physics
      • Matter and Energy
      • Quantum Mechanics
      • Thermodynamics
    • Chemistry
      • Periodic Table
      • Applied Chemistry
      • Materials
      • Physical Chemistry
    • Biology
      • Anatomy
      • Biochemistry
      • Ecology
      • Genetics
      • Microbiology
      • Plants and Fungi
    • Geology and Paleontology
      • Planet Earth
      • Earth Dynamics
      • Rocks and Minerals
      • Volcanoes
      • Dinosaurs
      • Fossils
    • Animals
      • Mammals
      • Birds
      • Fish
      • Amphibians
      • Reptiles
      • Invertebrates
      • Pets
      • Conservation
      • Animal facts
    • Climate and Weather
      • Climate change
      • Weather and atmosphere
    • Health
      • Drugs
      • Diseases and Conditions
      • Human Body
      • Mind and Brain
      • Food and Nutrition
      • Wellness
    • History and Humanities
      • Anthropology
      • Archaeology
      • History
      • Economics
      • People
      • Sociology
    • Space & Astronomy
      • The Solar System
      • Sun
      • The Moon
      • Planets
      • Asteroids, meteors & comets
      • Astronomy
      • Astrophysics
      • Cosmology
      • Exoplanets & Alien Life
      • Spaceflight and Exploration
    • Technology
      • Computer Science & IT
      • Engineering
      • Inventions
      • Sustainability
      • Renewable Energy
      • Green Living
    • Culture
    • Resources
  • Videos
  • Reviews
  • About Us
    • About
    • The Team
    • Advertise
    • Contribute
    • Editorial policy
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact

© 2007-2025 ZME Science - Not exactly rocket science. All Rights Reserved.