Object Analysis

Titan is the largest moon of Saturn and the second-largest natural satellite in the Solar System. It is the only moon known to have a dense atmosphere, and the only known body in space, other than Earth, where clear evidence of stable bodies of surface liquid has been found.

Titan is 50% larger (in diameter) than Earth's Moon and 80% more massive. It is larger than the planet Mercury, but only 40% as massive. Its atmosphere is largely nitrogen; minor components lead to the formation of methane and ethane clouds and heavy organonitrogen haze.

The climate—including wind and rain—creates surface features similar to those of Earth, such as dunes, rivers, lakes, seas (probably of liquid methane and ethane), and deltas, and is dominated by seasonal weather patterns as on Earth. With its liquids (both surface and subsurface) and robust nitrogen atmosphere, Titan's methane cycle is viewed as an analogy to Earth's water cycle, although at a much lower temperature.