Science
Related: About this forumTitan May be Older than Saturn, a New Study Suggests
Its well accepted that moons form after planets. In fact, only a few months ago, astronomers spotted a new moon forming deep within Saturns rings, 4.5 billion years after the planet initially formed.
But new research suggests Saturns icy moon Titan famous for its rivers and lakes of liquid methane may have formed before its parent planet, contradicting the theory that Titan formed within the warm disk surrounding an infant Saturn.
A combined NASA and ESA-funded study has found firm evidence that the nitrogen in Titans atmosphere originated in conditions similar to the cold birthplace of the most ancient comets from the Oort cloud a spherical shell of icy particles that enshrouds the Solar System.
The hint comes in the form of a ratio. All elements have a certain number of known isotopes variants of that element with the same number of protons that differ in their number of neutrons. The ratio of one isotope to another isotope is a crucial diagnostic tool.
Read more: http://www.universetoday.com/112789/titan-may-be-older-than-saturn-a-new-study-suggests/#ixzz35bb2kRfK
SummerSnow
(12,608 posts)n2doc
(47,953 posts)Anansi1171
(793 posts)...perhaps thats what most troubles the christian right.
mopinko
(70,078 posts)Bonobo
(29,257 posts)I would question the veracity of that statement.
There seems (to me) no reason to assume that. A wandering (rogue) clump that is a "planet" or "moon" (defined after the fact) could be captured in any number of potential orbits at any point after it is formed. Or so it seems to me.