Thousand-year wait for Titan's methane rain

[Tank]

Thousand-year wait for Titan's methane rain

Places on Saturn's moon Titan see rainfall about once every 1,000 years on average, a new analysis concludes.

Earth and Titan are the only worlds in the Solar System where liquid rains on a solid surface - though on Titan, the rain is methane rather than water.

The calculation is based on findings from the Cassini probe of rainstorms that occurred in 2004 and 2010.

Dr Ralph Lorenz presented details of his work at the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (LPSC) in Texas.

Titan is a fascinating, "same but different" analogue of the Earth. Wind and rain sculpt the surface, producing river channels, lakes, dunes and shorelines.

But here, liquid hydrocarbons take the place of water. On Titan, where the surface temperature averages -179C, it rains methane.

"You get centuries between rainshowers; but when they occur, they dump tens of centimetres or even metres of rainfall," Dr Lorenz, from the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (JHUAPL) in Maryland, told BBC News.

"That's consistent with the deeply incised river channels that we see."...

Astonishing.

[Too Few Lions]

Fascinating. I wonder what kind of temperature Titan is this time of year? I fancy a vacation somewhere nice and dry but I imagine it might be a bit cold for me.

[Tank]

Fascinating. I wonder what kind of temperature Titan is this time of year? I fancy a vacation somewhere nice and dry but I imagine it might be a bit cold for me.

Around -160 degrees centigrade.

[Too Few Lions]

Fascinating. I wonder what kind of temperature Titan is this time of year? I fancy a vacation somewhere nice and dry but I imagine it might be a bit cold for me.

Around -160 degrees centigrade.

brrrrrr....I'd need to take my thermals!

[OldGit]

Looks like the UK is going for this thousand-year rain pattern, too.

[Too Few Lions]

Looks like the UK is going for this thousand-year rain pattern, too.

I've been loving it, it's nice to be able to leave the house without a waterproof and umbrella!

[Tank]

Looks like the UK is going for this thousand-year rain pattern, too.

Not so much in the North.