History Channel
Season. 01 Episode. 08
http://www.history.com/shows/the-universe
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Universe_%28TV_series%29
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfDQeZxPsgw
EXCERPTS:
"If there is one planet that represent the majesty, mystery and awe of the Universe,
it is Saturn."
150 lbs = 137 lbs on Saturn
"
2nd LARGEST PLANET (a gas giant, hydrogen and helium)
750X THE SIZE OF THE EARTH
A DAY ON SATURN IS 10.6 HOURS LONG
TAKES 29.5 EARTH YEARS TO ORBIT THE SUN
48 NAMED MOONS
"
SATURN RINGS = 173,000 MILES IN DIAMETER.
WIDER THAN 21 EARTH SIDE BY SIDE.
but unbelievably thin, 65 feet.
when viewed from the side, they virtually disappear.
they are made up of billions of pieces of space debris (ice bodies).
they are screaming around around the planet about 20 to 40 thousand mph.
Saturn - god of weather, god of agriculture.
1979, Voyager spacecraft
2006, Cassini
On January 14th, 2005, .. as part of the ongoing Cassini mission to Saturn,
the unmanned Huygens probe descended onto the surface of Saturn's biggest moon.
Titan lives up to its name.
It is the size of the planet Mercury.
In fact, it is the second largest moon in the solar system.
50% bigger than our Moon.
AT TITAN
We have river channels, we have winds, we have dunes,
"It seems that Titan has some goo on the surface.
That's almost kind of neither land or sea,
but something in between."
Titan, like Earth, has extended atmosphere.
No other moon does in solar system.
Atmosphere of Titan is very very thick, it has mass that's 10 times
the mass of the Earths' atmosphere.
The haze is 200 miles thick.
Titan's atmosphere mimics the atmosphere of early Earth
4 billion years ago, (composition of nitrogen and methane)
"Incredibly, Tolberts' research has shown
that Titan's atmosphere,
when stimulated by sunlight,
begins to produce organic compounds."
TEMP. -300, no liquid water there.
But liquid methane, methane ice, methane rain..
"While Titan is Saturn's largest moon,
one of its smallest may be even more exciting.
It's a brilliant ball of ice and rock called Enceladus."
Its a tiny object. its Only about 300 miles in size, 1/8th of our moon.
And we've never seen such a body that small
that has activity on it."
Ice on Enceladus, that excites the scientists.
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