Methane Rain!

[flwyd]

When I was six, there was nothing I loved more than space. I wanted to be an astronaut. I went to a week-long day camp at Fiske Planetarium. I had a roll of stickers with my name on them. My friend and I pulled all the rocket ship ones off and affixed them to things.

I kind of wish I was a kid now. The biggest news in space when I was a kid was the Challenger explosion. These days the skies are replete with mars rovers and Saturnal missions.

But the coolest part is what's on Titan, Saturn's largest moon.

Methane rain.

How cool is that? Not only a good name for a band, but a thunder storm with distinctive sound and smell!

Thus, while many of Earth's familiar geophysical processes occur on Titan, the chemistry involved is quite different. Instead of liquid water, Titan has liquid methane. Instead of silicate rocks, Titan has frozen water ice. Instead of dirt, Titan has hydrocarbon particles settling out of the atmosphere, and instead of lava, Titanian volcanoes spew very cold ice.

Methane rain and volcanic ice! That's the coolest thing I've heard all year. I think I have a new dream vacation spot.

Comments

[directbetween.livejournal.com]

http://store.yahoo.com/planetarysociety//planetary-store-593.html

Woah, fat wave, brah.