Magic islands found on Titan, which then disappear...

A “magic island” has mysteriously appeared out of nowhere in one of the hydrocarbon seas on Saturn's giant planet-like moon, Titan, only to later disappear.

Described as a bright “transient feature” by scientists, it is not clear what the object is, or how it appeared there. Theories include that it could be the result of waves or bubbles, or even buoyant solid matter.

The sea had appeared flat and completely devoid of features, including waves prior to 2013. But then the object, dubbed “magic island” by scientists, suddenly materialised before vanishing in later images.

Source: www.independent.co.uk...

Now before anybody says this was from last year, I'm aware of that but I also did a few searches with different keywords & found nothing.

Was anything about this ever posted here? If so was it ever "closed" so to speak? I'll be shocked if the answer is no to either. I just saw it & thought I'd bring it to the forums attention 👍🏼

a reply to: TheBatch

Very interesting, thanks op

Star and flag

In my non-expert opinion, it looks as though the "sea" level shrank and now the island is visible.

But it is very interesting, as John said.

a reply to: TheBatch

Tides?

Icebergs?

originally posted by: Ericthedoubter
a reply to: TheBatch

Tides?

Icebergs?

Or maybe global warming?
Seriously, tides seem the simplest explanation.

Sun in a different position, illuminating the area?

a reply to: TheBatch
Look very very carefully at the two images there are minor features at the edges of the "land mass" that have been filled in with the liquid. This suggests tides or at least a change in "sea" levels.

Thank you everybody who's responded so far, I appreciate all the opinions & input. It does seem that "tides" is the most popular opinion here.

However I'd have thought considering our moon is supposedly the cause of our tides that even on one of Saturn's moons, the other (already confirmed) 61 moons would cause something far different than general tide changes no?

I'm actually more genuinely surprised that this wasn't posted on ATS at all in the space of the last 15 months if I'm honest!

a reply to: TheBatch

I think methane, ethane and propane 'flow' differently then water. That coupled with tidal effects and extreme cold could cause some odd anomilies.

Very interesting though, I'm glad people are just scanning all these images looking for things. I heard years ago NASA welcomed all the Mars rock findings and Astronaut UFO testimony for at least it generated buzz. That buzz led to donations and general awereness for a rather dull scientifically strict atmosphere.

Without threads/stories such as these, most common folks would not even know the painstaking effort many have dedicated to exploration of the final frontier.

S&F, AB

a reply to: introvert

Looks the same to me, the pic with the island seems to have more land mass in general than the other pic. Really noticeable with the island in the lower left corner.

there are a lot of differences in the photos

maybe this is a 'magic' photo.

could also be shopped...some scientists are actually tricky, funny people if you catch my drift.

originally posted by: six67seven
there are a lot of differences in the photos

maybe this is a 'magic' photo.

could also be shopped...some scientists are actually tricky, funny people if you catch my drift.

I most certainly do, I'm surprised nobody else has come up with this suggestion previously tbf.

It is stated that there are no waves etc on titan therefore no tides....apparently...so far as they know

originally posted by: TheBatch

A “magic island” has mysteriously appeared out of nowhere in one of the hydrocarbon seas on Saturn's giant planet-like moon, Titan, only to later disappear.

Described as a bright “transient feature” by scientists, it is not clear what the object is, or how it appeared there. Theories include that it could be the result of waves or bubbles, or even buoyant solid matter.

The sea had appeared flat and completely devoid of features, including waves prior to 2013. But then the object, dubbed “magic island” by scientists, suddenly materialised before vanishing in later images.

Source: www.independent.co.uk...

Yeah sounds familiar: Mystery object in lake on Saturn's moon Titan Intrigues Scientists

Now before anybody says this was from last year, I'm aware of that but I also did a few searches with different keywords & found nothing.

Was anything about this ever posted here? If so was it ever "closed" so to speak? I'll be shocked if the answer is no to either. I just saw it & thought I'd bring it to the forums attention 👍🏼

originally posted by: Kratos40

originally posted by: TheBatch

A “magic island” has mysteriously appeared out of nowhere in one of the hydrocarbon seas on Saturn's giant planet-like moon, Titan, only to later disappear.

Described as a bright “transient feature” by scientists, it is not clear what the object is, or how it appeared there. Theories include that it could be the result of waves or bubbles, or even buoyant solid matter.

The sea had appeared flat and completely devoid of features, including waves prior to 2013. But then the object, dubbed “magic island” by scientists, suddenly materialised before vanishing in later images.

Source: www.independent.co.uk...

Yeah sounds familiar: Mystery object in lake on Saturn's moon Titan Intrigues Scientists

Now before anybody says this was from last year, I'm aware of that but I also did a few searches with different keywords & found nothing.

Was anything about this ever posted here? If so was it ever "closed" so to speak? I'll be shocked if the answer is no to either. I just saw it & thought I'd bring it to the forums attention 👍🏼

Unfortunately, the ATS search function is "inadequite". The best ways is using Google search and typing the keywords.

I would go with the volume of methane increasing and decreasing, but not due to tides or waves, but temperature.
Methane has a significant thermal expansion coefficient, so it may be that temperature fluctuations on the surface cause the methane to increase and decrease in volume.


Source: USGS.gov

This temperature range is of Earth gradients, but since the curves gradients seem consistent, you could extrapolate to the temperature ranges on Titan and perhaps see a significant increase and decrease in volume. I could not find a graph depicting the average Titan temperature range ( −179 °C, or −290 °F), but you get the point. The critical point of methane to liquid state is -83 Celsius and 46 bars of pressure.

Thanks, interesting thread.

originally posted by: six67seven
there are a lot of differences in the photos

maybe this is a 'magic' photo.

could also be shopped...some scientists are actually tricky, funny people if you catch my drift.

Or that the photos aren't placed together properly and or matching each time. I believe this has been an issue with at least satellite photos before.

originally posted by: Kratos40

originally posted by: TheBatch

A “magic island” has mysteriously appeared out of nowhere in one of the hydrocarbon seas on Saturn's giant planet-like moon, Titan, only to later disappear.

Described as a bright “transient feature” by scientists, it is not clear what the object is, or how it appeared there. Theories include that it could be the result of waves or bubbles, or even buoyant solid matter.

The sea had appeared flat and completely devoid of features, including waves prior to 2013. But then the object, dubbed “magic island” by scientists, suddenly materialised before vanishing in later images.

Source: www.independent.co.uk...

Now before anybody says this was from last year, I'm aware of that but I also did a few searches with different keywords & found nothing.

Was anything about this ever posted here? If so was it ever "closed" so to speak? I'll be shocked if the answer is no to either. I just saw it & thought I'd bring it to the forums attention 👍🏼

Yeah sounds familiar: Mystery object in lake on Saturn's moon Titan Intrigues Scientists

I did use the keywords and found nothing at all so my apologies. Thanks for linking to your original thread from last year however!

MODS if you want to close this feel free. My bad!

Sorry it isn't magic, as it is the sun coming up or down, but it is the sun that makes it do the disappearing act.

If you look closely you can see the area around is being illuminated by the sun, as you can see the difference in brightness between the two photos.



That is just my .02 cents on this.

originally posted by: TheBatch
Thank you everybody who's responded so far, I appreciate all the opinions & input. It does seem that "tides" is the most popular opinion here.

However I'd have thought considering our moon is supposedly the cause of our tides that even on one of Saturn's moons, the other (already confirmed) 61 moons would cause something far different than general tide changes no?

I'm actually more genuinely surprised that this wasn't posted on ATS at all in the space of the last 15 months if I'm honest!

The greatest tidal effect, by far, would be from Saturn itself, not the other Moons. The period of the tides is apparently half that of the orbital period of Titan, or just under eight days.