Cassini’s Data on Titan Plentiful but Confusing

After staying up much of the night analyzing the first close-up images of Titan’s smog-shrouded surface, groggy scientists admitted Wednesday that they were befuddled by much of what they were seeing of Saturn’s strange moon.

Was that ice on top of the continent-sized landmass they’ve named Xanadu? Were the dark patches along its western boundary a gasoline slush? What are the clouds doing at the south pole? And where is the methane coming from?

There were few answers forthcoming despite the bounty of images and other data sent by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft late Tuesday.

“We’re still mystified and not quite sure what we’re looking at,” Cassini mission scientist Carolyn Porco said. “There isn’t much we’re definitely confident about.”

Assembled at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, the team of scientists presented some early findings from Cassini.

There were fewer clouds than expected, though the ones they found covered as much as 600 miles of territory. More unusual organic compounds were found in the upper atmosphere than expected, including benzene, diacetylene and propyne, making Titan’s atmosphere one of the solar system’s most diverse.

With all the hydrocarbons in the atmosphere, it would be a very flammable place if there were any oxygen.

Nitrogen is the largest constituent of the atmosphere, just as on Earth, which is why many scientists think Titan is a good model for what early Earth was like.

The scientific team also believes that the moon has lost three-quarters of its original atmosphere, though they don’t know whether it happened gradually or all at once through some sort of cataclysmic event. There also is evidence that certain atmospheric compounds are being replaced, possibly through leakage from a giant underground methane lake.

Measurements show wind speeds comparable to Earth’s. Titan also shares one characteristic with Venus in that it is a “super-rotator.” The moon rotates slowly, while its atmosphere swirls much faster.

But the big questions, including what the topography looks like, remain unanswered.