Saturn's largest moon, Titan, pictured to the right of the gas
giant in the Cassini spacecraft view. Scientists have discovered
methane lakes in the tropical areas of Saturn's moon Titan, one
of which is about half the size of Utah's Great Salt Lake, with
a depth of at least one meter. The longstanding bodies of liquid
were detected by NASA's Cassini spacecraft, which has been
orbiting Saturn since its arrival at the ringed planet in 2004.
It was previously believed that such bodies of liquid only
existed at the polar regions of Titan. According to a report
published in the journal Nature , the liquid for the lakes could
come from an underground aquifer. "An aquifer could explain one
of the puzzling questions about the existence of methane, which
is continually depleted," said the lead author Caitlin Griffith.
"Methane is a progenitor of Titan's organic chemistry, which
likely produces interesting molecules like amino acids, the
building blocks of life," Griffith noted. The lakes have
remained since they were