Cassini at Titan: The story so far

Abstract

Saturn's giant moon Titan is the second largest moon in the solar system and is the only planetary body, other than our Earth, to have a substantial nitrogen-based atmosphere. Many exotic chemical reactions, driven by solar radiation, result in an atmosphere awash with primitive organic compounds, which eventually rain down onto the surface. It is now just over one year into the Cassini/Huygens mission to explore the Saturnian System, and already Titan is proving to be a very curious moon indeed. The atmosphere contains clouds made of hydrocarbons, which race round the planet, blown by winds rotating faster than the planet itself. There is evidence of a varied surface laced with drainage channels, tectonic features, dunes and even volcanoes and hydrocarbon lakes. Strange hazes adorn the sky, which made studying Titan's surface difficult prior to Cassini's arrival. This article summarizes recent discoveries about the atmosphere and surface of Titan from the mission so far.