"Images of Saturn’s moon Titan, captured by the James Webb Space Telescope’s NIRCam instrument November 4, 2022. Left: Image using F212N, a 2.12-micron filter sensitive to Titan’s lower atmosphere. The bright spots are prominent clouds in the northern hemisphere. Right: Color composite image using a combination of NIRCam filters: Blue=F140M (1.40 microns), Green=F150W (1.50 microns), Red=F200W (1.99 microns), Brightness=F210M (2.09 microns). "
(ScitechDaily.com/Webb and Keck Telescopes Team for Unprecedented Look at Saturn’s Moon Titan – “Simply Extraordinary!”)
"Several prominent surface features are labeled: Kraken Mare is thought to be a methane sea; Belet is composed of dark-colored dunes; Adiri is a bright albedo feature. Download the Titan NIRCam image from the Resource Gallery. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, A. Pagan (STScI). Science: JWST Titan GTO Team" (ScitechDaily.com/Webb and Keck Telescopes Team for Unprecedented Look at Saturn’s Moon Titan – “Simply Extraordinary!”)
Titan-moon is quite similar to Ganymede. The largest moon of Jupiter. The question is why does Ganymede not have a dense atmosphere?
Titan is the biggest moon of Saturn. It's the only moon in our solar system that has a dense atmosphere. And that thing makes this moon remarkable. There are clouds in the Titan atmosphere. And that thing means there is also some kind of particles. They are forming clouds in the atmosphere of that very cold. The average temperature on Titan is 93,7K (−179.5 °C). So those clouds can form around the small ice bites.
There is 2.7±0.1% of methane (CH4) in the Titan atmosphere. And that thing can form methane ice in that atmosphere.
There is no oxygen on Titan. And that denies the oxygenizing reactions. So that thing can make Titan a very interesting place. In that chemical environment, things like carbon-based molecules can stay almost forever.
James Webb and other telescopes can uncover new details from that very extraordinary world with hydrocarbon oceans. Titan is a very dry moon, and there is no known water. But the dense atmosphere that is mainly nitrogen makes that moon very interesting.
Because it should be like a freezer where is lots of material from the young solar system. The atmosphere protects those organic compounds from the UV radiation that comes from the Sun. So maybe the origin of life is stored in that icy moon. The nitrogen atmosphere of Titan is unique. The pressure of the atmosphere is 1,42 atm atmosphere.
But the mass of that moon is lower than Ganymede, the largest satellite in the solar system. The surface gravity of Titan is 1.352 m/s2 (0.138 g) (0.835 Moon's) and the surface gravity of Ganymede is 1.428 m/s2 (0.146 g). The question is why Ganymede has no dense atmosphere. Maybe the distance from the Sun explains why Titan has its nitrogen atmosphere and Ganymede has not that thing.
"Evolution of clouds on Titan over 30 hours between November 4 and November 6, 2022, as seen by Webb NIRCam (left) and Keck NIRC-2 (right). Titan’s trailing hemisphere seen here is rotating from left (dawn) to right (evening) as seen from Earth and the Sun. Cloud A appears to be rotating into view while Cloud B appears to be either dissipating or moving behind Titan’s limb (around toward the hemisphere facing away from us)."
(ScitechDaily.com/Webb and Keck Telescopes Team for Unprecedented Look at Saturn’s Moon Titan – “Simply Extraordinary!”)
"Clouds are not long-lasting on Titan or Earth, so those seen on November 4 may not be the same as those seen on November 6. The NIRCam image used the following filters: Blue=F140M (1.40 microns), Green=F150W (1.50 microns), Red=F200W (1.99 microns), Brightness=F210M (2.09 microns). The Keck NIRC-2 image used: Red=He1b (2.06 microns), Green=Kp (2.12 microns), Blue=H2 1-0 (2.13 microns). Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, W. M. Keck Observatory. A. Pagan (STScI). Science: Webb Titan GTO Team"
(ScitechDaily.com/Webb and Keck Telescopes Team for Unprecedented Look at Saturn’s Moon Titan – “Simply Extraordinary!”)
https://scitechdaily.com/webb-and-keck-telescopes-team-for-unprecedented-look-at-saturns-moon-titan-simply-extraordinary/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ganymede_(moon)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titan_(moon)
https://astronomyandtechnology.blogspot.com/
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