DesertFox
01-27-2005, 05:27 PM
FRANKFURT, Germany - Saturn's largest moon contains all the ingredients for life, but senior scientists studying data from a European probe ruled out the possibility Titan's abundant methane stems from living organisms.
More than a week after the Huygens probe plunged through Titan's atmosphere, researchers continue to pore over data collected for clues to how the only celestial body known to have a significant atmosphere other than Earth came to be and whether it can provide clues to how life arose here.
Initial findings have revealed an abundance of methane on the surface of Titan — the first moon other than Earth's to be explored — which is crucial to supporting its thick atmosphere. But scientists are still puzzling over the origin of the methane.
"This methane cannot be coming from living organisms," Jean-Pierre Lebreton, mission manager for the Huygens probe that landed on the surface of Titan Jan. 14, told The Associated Press on Wednesday.
http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20050121/capt.ny11501211142.saturn_cassini_huygens_ny115.jp g
This image released by the European Space Agency Friday Jan. 21, 2005 shows a single image from the Huygens DISR instrument of a dark plain area on Titan, seen during descent to the landing site Jan. 14, 2005, that indicates flow around bright 'islands'. The areas below and above the bright islands may be at different elevations. The images captured by the DISR reveal that Titan has extraordinarily Earth-like meteorology and geology. Images have shown a complex network of narrow drainage channels running from brighter highlands to lower, flatter, dark regions. These channels merge into river systems running into lakebeds featuring offshore 'islands' and 'shoals' remarkably similar to those on Earth.
http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/afp/20050116/capt.sge.cax05.160105222824.photo00.photo.default-345x341.jpg
A recent artist's impression of Huygens descending on Titan.
More (http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=624&ncid=753&e=2&u=/ap/20050127/ap_on_sc/europe_titan_mission)
More than a week after the Huygens probe plunged through Titan's atmosphere, researchers continue to pore over data collected for clues to how the only celestial body known to have a significant atmosphere other than Earth came to be and whether it can provide clues to how life arose here.
Initial findings have revealed an abundance of methane on the surface of Titan — the first moon other than Earth's to be explored — which is crucial to supporting its thick atmosphere. But scientists are still puzzling over the origin of the methane.
"This methane cannot be coming from living organisms," Jean-Pierre Lebreton, mission manager for the Huygens probe that landed on the surface of Titan Jan. 14, told The Associated Press on Wednesday.
http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20050121/capt.ny11501211142.saturn_cassini_huygens_ny115.jp g
This image released by the European Space Agency Friday Jan. 21, 2005 shows a single image from the Huygens DISR instrument of a dark plain area on Titan, seen during descent to the landing site Jan. 14, 2005, that indicates flow around bright 'islands'. The areas below and above the bright islands may be at different elevations. The images captured by the DISR reveal that Titan has extraordinarily Earth-like meteorology and geology. Images have shown a complex network of narrow drainage channels running from brighter highlands to lower, flatter, dark regions. These channels merge into river systems running into lakebeds featuring offshore 'islands' and 'shoals' remarkably similar to those on Earth.
http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/afp/20050116/capt.sge.cax05.160105222824.photo00.photo.default-345x341.jpg
A recent artist's impression of Huygens descending on Titan.
More (http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=624&ncid=753&e=2&u=/ap/20050127/ap_on_sc/europe_titan_mission)