Cassini Spacecraft Spots Mysterious, Disappearing Feature on Saturn's Moon, Titan

NASA's Cassini spacecraft is keeping an eye on a mysterious feature on Saturn's moon, Titan. The feature, located in Titan's large hydrocarbon sea, covers an area of about 100 square miles and seems to be evolving over time.

The mysterious feature first appeared in radar images as a bright feature against the dark background of the liquid sea in July 2013 during Cassini's flyby. Yet previous observations showed no sign of this bright feature in that part of Ligeia Mare, the name of Titan's sea. More interesting is the fact that the feature vanished over several months once again, which hinted at the fact that it was a transient feature. Yet in August 2014, it was spotted again and it had changed during the 11 months since it was last seen.

So what could this appearing and disappearing feature actually be? Scientists believe that it could be surface waves, rising bubbles, floating solids, solids suspended just below the surface or something even more exotic. In addition, the appearance of the feature is probably related to the changing seasons on Titan.

"Science loves a mystery, and with this enigmatic feature, we have a thrilling example of ongoing change on Titan," said Stephen Wall, deputy team lead of Cassini's radar team, in a news release. "We're hopeful that we'll be able to continue watching the changes unfold and gain insights about what's going on in that alien sea."

The findings reveal a bit more about Titan. That said, more research needs to be conducted before the scientists manage to state exactly what the observed feature is. Even so, it does present a mystery that is likely to be solved with continued observations of this moon in the future.

For more information about Cassini and its mission near Saturn, you can visit NASA's website.