NASA's Cassini probe has uncovered two new, mysterious "islands" on Saturn's moon Titan that appear and disappear. This adds to last year's discovery of a third disappearing "island" on Titan. Researchers are calling this phenomenon "magic islands."
The Cassini mission discovered these "islands" on Titan's largest sea, named Kraken Mare, during an August 21 flyby. The space probe is studying Titan's sea to learn more about the way Titan's ocean works. Titan is the only other known body in our solar system besides Earth that has seas and lakes.
Last year, researchers discovered another mysterious "magic island" in another of Titan's seas, but were only able to capture it on one instrument. These two newly-discovered islands were caught on both Cassini's Visible and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS), which means the scientists can study the islands on two wavelengths.
Scientists believe that these "islands" may be either waves in Titan's ocean, or debris floating through the ocean.
"They could be waves, or they could be something more solid. We definitely know now they are something reflecting from the surface," said Jason Soderblom, one of the researchers on the Cassini project.
The research team also attempted to discover the depths of the Kraken Mare sea using the Cassini probe's radar. They found that the sea had a depth of about 66 to 115 feet. The Cassini probe will attempt to capture the depth of Titan's third largest ocean, Punga Mare, in January.
The Cassini probe is not set to return to Kraken Mare again before it departs Titan, finishing its mission, so this data is the last that scientists will have on these mysterious "magic islands" in this sea. However, the Cassini probe will make one more stop at Ligeia Mare in January 2015 before it departs, so scientists will have another opportunity to study that sea, which is where the original "magic island" was discovered.
The Cassini probe has been exploring Titan since 2004. The mission is set to go into its final stage in roughly 2016.
"After ten years there, Titan still can surprise us. Titan has dunes, lakes, seas, even rivers. All this makes Titan an explorer's utopia," said Alexander Hayes, another member of the Cassini team.
