The Sounds of Titan

When we contemplate other worlds, we rarely include sounds. Often, that's reasonable. Sound requires an atmosphere, so worlds that lack atmospheres will be silent.

Saturn's moon Titan, however, has an atmosphere that is thicker than Earth's. It produces storms. It has methane rain. The surface of Titan could be a noisy place. Scientists are currently trying to understand what sounds there might be like so they can build instruments for future Titan probes which will be able to listen. Specifically, they're interested in detecting thunder. Thunder implies lightning, and lightning jolting the organic compounds of Titan could spark the creation of life.