After many years of exploration, planetary researchers think they have finally caught sight of the waves on the surface of the seas found on Titan - Saturn's greatest moon. If this assumption is confirmed, it will be the first proof of the existence of waves on the surface of the oceans outside the planet Earth.

NASA's Cassini spacecraft has tracked several unusual solar reflections on the surface of Punga Mare, one of Titan's hydrocarbon seas in 2012 and 2013. These reflections may come from small waves no larger than 2 centimeters that disturb the otherwise calm ocean surface. At least that's what Jason Barnes, a planetary scientist at Idaho University in Moscow, says.

Barnes presented these discoveries today (17.03.2014) at the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, where even another discussion paper suggested that the waves could be in the next sea of ​​Titan.

Researchers expect more waves to appear in the next few years as wind turbulence over the northern hemisphere of Titan, where the seas and oceans are most located, increases. These wind turbulences occur during the local period from winter to spring.

"It seems like Titan is starting to move," says Ralph Lorenz, a planetary scientist at Johns Hopkins University's Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland. "Oceanography is no longer just earthly science," he added.

Source: Nature.com