Methane Lakes On Titan

We've known for a while that lakes of liquid methane exist in the polar regions of Saturn's giant moon, Titan.  Scientists thought, however, that such lakes were confined to those areas, where the temperatures are always cold enough for methane to remain in liquid form.  Now, though, researchers have found a methane lake in Titan's tropics.

Using the infrared imaging technology of the Cassini spacecraft, researchers have found a huge lake of liquid methane near Titan's equator.  The lake is roughly the size of the Great Salt Lake in Utah at its lowest recorded levels, although the Titan lake is extremely shallow, perhaps only one to three feet deep.

There are no rivers or streams leading to the lake, so scientists are theorizing it's fed by underground sources.   They are also puzzled by the location; the tropics of Titan, they say, simply aren't cold enough to support methane in liquid form.

Perhaps, then, as with Saturn's rings, we just happen to be lucky enough to be at Titan when an extraordinary yet transitory feature is there.