'Ghost' Object Appears, Disappears on Titan

By Nancy Atkinson June 23, 2014
'Ghost' Object Appears, Disappears on Titan

  • Northern hemisphere winds may be kicking up and forming waves on Ligeia Mare. The radar imaging system might see the waves as a kind of “ghost” island. Scientists previously have seen what they think are waves in another nearby Titan sea, Punga Mare.

  • Gases may push out from the sea floor of Ligeia Mare, rising to the surface as bubbles.

  • Sunken solids formed by a wintry freeze could become buoyant with the onset of the late Titan spring warmer temperatures.

  • Suspended solids in Ligeia Mare, which are neither sunken nor floating, but act like silt in a terrestrial delta.

    • Nancy Atkinson

    Nancy Atkinson

    Nancy Atkinson is a space journalist and author with a passion for telling the stories of people involved in space exploration and astronomy. She is currently retired from daily writing, but worked at Universe Today for 20 years as a writer and editor. She also contributed articles to The Planetary Society, Ad Astra (National Space Society), New Scientist and many other online outlets.

    Her 2019 book, "Eight Years to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Missions,” shares the untold stories of engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make the Apollo program so successful, despite the daunting odds against it. Her first book “Incredible Stories From Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos” (2016) tells the stories of 37 scientists and engineers that work on several current NASA robotic missions to explore the solar system and beyond.

    Nancy is also a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, and through this program, she has the opportunity to share her passion of space and astronomy with children and adults through presentations and programs. Nancy's personal website is nancyatkinson.com