If you’re looking for the best waves in the solar system, Saturn’s moon Titan may be your ideal extraterrestrial surfing spot. There, a breeze that would cause ripples on Earth can cause waves 10 feet (3 meters) high across the frigid world.
A new model called ‘PlanetWaves’ has been developed by researchers to accurately describe what liquid waves look like on other worlds. Previous attempts have been gravity But PlanetWaves also applies atmospheric pressure and the properties of the liquid being blown away (density, viscosity, surface tension) to quantify the liquid’s resistance to ripples.
Article continues below
Schneck’s team calibrated the PlanetWaves model based on 20 years of data collected by buoys in Lake Superior, Earth’s largest freshwater lake, located on the Canada-U.S. border. The model was able to accurately reproduce the measurements, giving the researchers confidence in applying it to the rest of the world.
above earth“We’re used to certain wave dynamics, but with this model we can see how waves behave on planets with different liquids, atmospheres, and gravity, which can challenge our intuitions,” Andrew Ashton of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution said in a statement.
Saturnbiggest month of titan That was their main focus. Because it’s the only otherworld we know for sure that has liquid on its surface, and whose rivers, lakes, and oceans have been mapped. Cassini – Huygens mission.
However, Titan’s liquids are not water, but oily hydrocarbons such as methane and ethane, which become liquid only at extremely low temperatures of -179 degrees Celsius (-290 degrees Fahrenheit).
“What’s interesting about Titan is that we haven’t directly observed what these lakes look like,” Taylor Perron of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology said in a statement. “So we don’t know exactly what kind of waves are out there. This model gives us an idea.”
The researchers found that even light winds could cause waves to rise as high as 10 feet in Titan’s lakes because Titan’s gravity is 14 percent of Earth’s and the liquid is relatively light and easy to move.
“It looks like a tall wave moving in slow motion,” Schneck said. “If you were standing on the shore of this lake, you might only feel a breeze, but you’d see huge waves rolling towards you, something you wouldn’t expect anywhere else on Earth.”
When waves hit the shore, they cause significant erosion. Could Titan’s giant waves provide answers to persistent mysteries about the nature of Titan’s lakes and coastline?
“Unlike Earth, where deltas where rivers and coasts meet are common, on Titan there are very few that look like deltas, even though there are many rivers and coasts,” said Taylor Perron, also at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). “Is it because of the waves?”
Understanding the size of Titan’s waves will also be important if any of our space agencies decide to send a probe to float on Titan’s lakes or oceans.
“You want to build something that can withstand wave energy, so it’s important to know what kind of waves these devices can withstand,” Schneck says.
The team also applied the PlanetWaves model to various other worlds. Mars It seems like there is no liquid water now, but billions of years ago there was liquid water. Over time, Mars has lost much of its atmospherethe atmospheric pressure and temperature dropped. If this had happened, stronger winds would have been needed to raise the waves, whereas previously a weaker wind would have been sufficient.
beyond solar systemthere are various worlds that could support some kind of liquid, but so far no liquid has actually been confirmed to exist. Nevertheless, habitable zone planet LHS 1140b The density suggests that up to 19% of its mass is water in some form. Being a super-Earth with stronger gravity than our planet, the waves in the hypothetical ocean would be much smaller than on Earth for the same wind speed.
Even more exotic is the exoplanet Kepler-1649b. VenusA world with gravity similar to Earth. Venus’ atmosphere contains large amounts of sulfuric acid, and Kepler-1649b may also contain sulfuric acid. If sulfuric acid could exist on Earth’s surface, it would require strong winds just to cause ripples in an acidic lake, since sulfuric acid is twice as dense as liquid water.
The last exoplanet they used PlanetWaves on was 55 Cancri, a hot world likely covered in lava lakes. Lava is typically very thick and viscous, and 55 Cancri’s gravity is stronger than Earth’s, so it would take hurricane-force winds of around 130 miles per hour just to cause ripples in the lava ocean.
The results of this study were published in the journal April 3. Geophysical Research Journal: Planets.
#Tall #waves #moving #slow #motion #shows #oily #oceans #Saturns #giant #moon #Titan #behave