2008/09/10 by M. E. Brown, E. L. Schaller, H. G. Roe +6 · 1 citation
Physics and Astronomy · #Astro and Planetary Science #Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies #Planetary Science and Exploration #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1029/2008gl035964
11 pages, 3 figures
arxiv created 2008/09/10 · openalex publication_date 2009/01/01 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Images from instruments on Cassini as well as from telescopes on the ground reveal the presence of sporadic small‐scale cloud activity in the cold late‐winter north polar region of Saturn's large moon Titan. These clouds lie underneath the previously discovered uniform polar cloud attributed to a quiescent ethane cloud at ∼40 km and appear confined to the same latitudes as those of the largest known hydrocarbon lakes at the north pole of Titan. The physical properties of these clouds suggest that they are due to methane convection and condensation. Such convection could be caused by a process in some ways analogous to terrestrial lake‐effect clouds. The lakes on Titan could be a key connection between the surface and the meteorological cycle.