SATURN'S
MOON HAS A LAKE, BUT NO LIFEGUARDS OR SAND CASTLES.
NASA's
Cassini spacecraft caught a flash of sunlight reflecting
off a lake on Titan, Saturn's largest moon. That white
dot on the top of the hazy photo is the first clear evidence
of a liquid lake on any object other than Earth.
The reflection is on the southern tip of a
lake called "Lake Kraken Mare" which is almost
as big as the US state of California! The lake
is not filled with water, however. It's filled
with liquid methane and ethane. Methane gas
is burned on earth as a fuel, but Titan is
so cold (about -180° Celsius!) that the
methane is liquid. So, no
swimming in lake Kraken Mare!
Titan
can be seen from Earth with small telescopes or strong
binoculars. It's hard to see because it is so close to
the much bigger and brighter Saturn. The most recent pictures
of Titan and Saturn were taken by the robotic Cassini
Spacecraft, which arrived at Saturn in 2004.
Lucas
Bolyard, a high school student from Clarksburg, West
Virginia, discovered a type of dead star called a
"Rotating Radio Transient". While sitting at home
one weekend with nothing to do, Lucas decided to
search through some signals from the Green Bank Telescope.
As part of a group of students that were recruited
by professional astronomers, Lucas didn't expect
to discover one of only 30 pulsars of this type ever!
Watch the video to hear Lucas talk about his experience.
SATURN'S
MOON HAS A LAKE, BUT NO LIFEGUARDS OR SAND CASTLES. 
Titan
can be seen from Earth with small telescopes or strong
binoculars. It's hard to see because it is so close to
the much bigger and brighter Saturn. The most recent pictures
of Titan and Saturn were taken by the robotic Cassini
Spacecraft, which arrived at Saturn in 2004.