The new discovery shook the hypothesis of life on Titan

The ocean on Titan, Saturn's largest moon, may have salt concentrations equivalent to the Dead Sea on Earth.

This is the research result of the US National Aeronautics Agency (NASA) announced on July 2.

NASA's latest research, published in Icarus magazine, is based on gravity and terrain data collected by space exploration ship Cassini during flights to Titan over the past 10 years.

Analyzing Cassini's data, NASA scientists reconstructed the structure of Titan's complete model, including the underlying ice as well as the ocean beneath it.

According to this model, scientists identified Titan's ocean as having a relatively high density to produce the gravitational parameters as collected.

Thus, the possibility is given that this ocean's water contains a huge amount of salt with the main component being sulfur, sodium (Sodium) and potassium (Potassium).

NASA estimates salt concentrations in seawater on Titan could be equivalent to the Dead Sea salt concentration on Earth.

Lead researcher Giuseppe Mitri of the University of Nantes, France, points out that the results of this hypothetical ocean change may be a place to nurture life in the present time.

In addition, Cassini's parameters also show that the surface of Titan's ice is relatively uniform. The cause of this is because the moon's outer shell is very hard when the ocean is crystallized and slowly freezes.

On the other hand, the surface of this moon tends to self-level over time like warm candle wax. This freezing process has an important effect on Titan's ability to survive in the ocean, because it limits the ability of matter to exchange between surface and ocean.

The discovery of the ocean on Saturn's moon Titan is seen as a major step forward in the quest for a life-like planet like Earth. However, the new findings may quell hope for life that exists on Saturn's largest natural satellite.