Published time: June 23, 2014 11:50
Ligeia Mare, shown here in a
false-color image from NASA's Cassini mission, is the second largest known body
of liquid on Saturn's moon Titan (Image from nasa.gov)
A strange object, dubbed a “mystery island,” has
appeared briefly on images of a methane sea on Saturn’s largest moon, Titan.
Studying the images, taken by the spacecraft Cassini, astronomers came up with
four possible explanations.
The unusual discovery was made on Ligeia Mare, the
second-largest of Titan’s three bodies of liquid big enough to be considered
seas. A bright white object was spotted off the rocky southern coast of the sea
when Cassini flew by it on July 10, 2013. Neither earlier pictures taken by the
spacecraft’s radar nor the one taken on July 26 have the object, which means
the scientists spotted a big transient process on the usually calm body.
