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Old October 5th 03, 12:11 AM
Jonathan Silverlight
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Default Titan greenhouse effect!!!!

In message , Hayley
writes
The Book is called the search for life on other planets its a recent book,

the book does state the temperatures measured by Voyager as being 94K
but also that subsurface temperatures may be much warmer as the composition
of the moon is such that it cant be just a rocky world, also life is much
tougher than we imagined
only a few years ago, with such events as the bacteria coming back to life
after a long spell on our moon
on that camera they bought back.


Well, staying with "The New Solar System" because it's the best
reference I've got, and we aren't going to learn much that's really new
until Cassini gets there "all being well", I find a theoretical
composition of 55% rock. It's clear that none of the moons of the outer
planets are just rock, but that doesn't give a reason they should be
warm inside.
In fact, Titan probably doesn't have the tidal heating Io does, so it
probably doesn't have any liquid water now. It's possible, though.

I'll be delighted if they do find any sign of life, but I think it's a
terrible mistake to raise hopes of finding it. It would be tremendously
exciting though - I'd guess there's a chance something evolved during
the brief time Titan did have liquid water, and there's always that
exotic chemistry I mentioned. Something able to generate energy in the
intense cold there, and some alternative solvent.

BTW, the bacteria on that camera may not have survived as long as people
thought - they may have arrived with the astronauts.