NASA Cassini Spots New Evidence of Icy Volcanoes on Saturn's Moon, Titan

Saturn's largest moon, Titan, has long remained a source of study for scientists. Over the past four years, NASA's Cassini spacecraft has watched this moon. Now, researchers have seen changes in surface brightness on the moon and have discovered that cryovolanism may be active on Titan. This, in turn, reveals a little bit more about the fascinating world.

A cryovolcano is essentially an ice volcano. It erupts volatiles such as water, ammonia or methane instead of molten rock. These substances usually form plumes and liquids, but can also be in vapor form. These volcanoes can often form on icy moons, such as Titan.

Titan isn't anything like our own moon. It has an atmosphere rich in organic, carbon-based compounds. In addition, astronomers believe that beneath its icy surface is an ocean of liquid water possibly mixed with ammonia. The moon also has clouds and rains of liquid methane that mimic Earth's own water cycle and its landscape possesses dunes, lakes and tectonic-like features.

"All of these features, plus a need for a methane reservoir and volcanic activity to replenish the methane in the atmosphere, is compatible with the theory of active cryovolcanism on Titan," said Anezina Solomonidou, one of the researchers, in a news release. "We were able to penetrate the atmosphere with VIMS and view any changes in these surface features. Interestingly, the albedo (brightness) of two of the areas has changed with time."

The surface variations that the researchers witnessed along with spectral albedo properties and the presence of volcanic-like features seem to hint at the source of these cryovolcanoes. It's very possible that these volcanoes are linked to Titan's deep liquid ocean. This, in turn, would explain the source material of the volcanoes.

"These results have important implications for Titan's potential to support life as these cryovolcanic areas might contain environments that could harbor conditions favorable for life," said Solomonidou in a news release.

The findings not only reveal the potential for life on Titan, but also have implications for other moons. It turns out that it's not only planets that might hold conditions that are suitable for organisms. It could be that, in fact, moons should also be targets for astronomers.

The findings were presented at the European Planetary Science Congress 2013 in London.