Seasons on Titan

NASA's Cassini probe has discovered a huge vortex above the southern pole of Titan. Scientists believe this is a sign that the seasons are changing on the largest moon of Saturn.

Land o' Lakes

NASA's Cassini spacecraft has discovered evidence of lakes on Saturn's largest moon Titan. The lakes are believed to be composed of liquid methane, so don't plan on taking a dip if you someday travel there.

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The result, which is a new analysis of Cassini data, is unexpected because models had assumed the long-standing bodies of liquid would only exist at the poles. The findings appear in this week's issue of the journal Nature.

Where could the liquid for these lakes come from? "A likely supplier is an underground aquifer," said Caitlin Griffith, the paper's lead author and a Cassini team associate at the University of Arizona, Tucson. "In essence, Titan may have oases."