New research suggests Saturn’s moon Titan has a thick ice cover that could be warming lower areas and supporting molecular growth.
新的研究表明，土星的卫星泰坦有一层厚厚的冰层，可能会变暖较低的区域并支持分子的生长。
Scientists at the University of Hawaii carried out the new study . It appears in The Planetary Science Journal . The findings add to existing evidence that Titan may hold the right mix of materials to support possible life.
夏威夷大学的科学家进行了这项新研究。它出现在《行星科学杂志》上。这些发现进一步证明土卫六可能拥有支持可能存在生命的正确材料组合。
No life forms have been confirmed on Titan, a cold, icy world. But past studies suggest the moon now has a large layer of ice that once supported widely flowing water on the surface. Titan is also thought to contain a dense atmosphere rich in nitrogen and methane, both of which are found in Earth’s own atmosphere.
土卫六是一个寒冷冰冷的世界，尚未证实有任何生命形式。但过去的研究表明，月球现在有一层大冰，曾经支持月球表面广泛流动的水。泰坦还被认为含有富含氮气和甲烷的致密大气，这两种物质都存在于地球大气中。
NASA reports Saturn has a total of 146 moons orbiting it, more than any other planet. Titan, an ice giant, is the largest of them.
NASA 报告称，土星共有 146 颗卫星绕其运行，比任何其他行星都多。冰巨人泰坦是其中最大的。
For more than 10 years, NASA’s Cassini spacecraft studied Saturn “and its complex system of rings and moons,” the space agency said . The new study used NASA data to closely examine surface details of Titan.
美国宇航局表示，十多年来，美国宇航局的卡西尼号航天器一直在研究土星“及其复杂的环和卫星系统”。这项新研究利用美国宇航局的数据来仔细检查土卫六的表面细节。
The researchers used computer modeling to examine different elements of Titan’s surface. One of the main discoveries was that many craters examined on Titan’s surface were not as deep as some other moons. The team reported that in some cases, craters were hundreds of meters shallower, or less deep, than scientists expected. In addition, only 90 craters were identified on the whole moon.
研究人员使用计算机建模来检查土卫六表面的不同元素。主要发现之一是，在土卫六表面检查的许多陨石坑并不像其他一些卫星那么深。研究小组报告说，在某些情况下，陨石坑比科学家预期的要浅数百米，或者深度要浅数百米。此外，整个月球上只发现了90个陨石坑。
“This was very surprising because, based on other moons, we expect to see many more impact craters on the surface,” said University of Hawaii’s Lauren Schurmeier, who led the study.
领导这项研究的夏威夷大学劳伦·舒尔梅尔说：“这非常令人惊讶，因为根据其他卫星的情况，我们预计会在其表面看到更多的撞击坑。”
She said the research team had also expected to see much deeper craters. “We realized something unique to Titan must be making them become shallower and disappear relatively quickly,” she said.
她说研究小组还预计会看到更深的陨石坑。 “我们意识到土卫六的独特之处一定是使它们变得更浅并且相对较快地消失，”她说。
Computer modeling carried out by the researchers showed how the surface might have changed to remove signs of major impact craters. The researchers said one of the most likely causes of such change was that the moon’s icy surface is covered with a thick layer of solid water ice, with methane gas trapped inside.
研究人员进行的计算机建模显示了表面可能如何发生变化以消除主要撞击坑的迹象。研究人员表示，造成这种变化的最可能原因之一是月球的冰表面覆盖着一层厚厚的固体水冰，里面困有甲烷气体。
The team said the data examinations suggest Titan has a methane-filled icy crust that is from five to 10 kilometers thick. The modeling operations run by the scientists produced images that looked similar to crater formations on Titan’s surface.
研究小组表示，数据检查表明土卫六有一个充满甲烷的冰壳，厚度为 5 到 10 公里。科学家们进行的建模操作产生了看起来与土卫六表面的陨石坑结构相似的图像。
Schurmeier said the methane crust, “warms Titan’s interior” and can cause surprisingly fast changes to the surface structure. Schurmeier noted, for example, that crater shallowing on Titan is believed to be happening at a rate “that is close to that of fast-moving warm glaciers on Earth.”
舒尔迈尔说，甲烷地壳“使土卫六的内部变暖”，并可能导致表面结构发生惊人的快速变化。例如，舒尔迈尔指出，据信土卫六上的陨石坑变浅的速度“接近地球上快速移动的温暖冰川的速度”。
The surface of Titan is estimated to be about minus 179 degrees Celsius. Because of this extreme cold, liquids on the moon’s surface take the form of ice, with methane gas locked inside, the researchers said. This gas could help warm surface levels beneath, possibly permitting molecules to rise toward the surface.
泰坦表面的温度估计约为-179摄氏度。研究人员说，由于这种极端寒冷，月球表面的液体呈冰的形式，里面锁着甲烷气体。这种气体可以帮助加热下面的表面水平，可能允许分子上升到表面。
Schurmeier said studying the thickness of Titan’s icy crust is important because it might help explain how the moon’s atmosphere began to develop. The measurements could also provide additional information on Titan’s changing climate.
舒尔梅尔说，研究土卫六冰壳的厚度很重要，因为它可能有助于解释土卫六大气层是如何开始形成的。这些测量结果还可以提供有关泰坦气候变化的更多信息。
“Titan is a natural laboratory to study how the greenhouse gas methane warms and cycles through the atmosphere,” she said. The resulting information, she added, can provide important insights about such processes happening on Earth.
“泰坦是一个天然的实验室，可以研究温室气体甲烷如何变暖并在大气中循环，”她说。她补充说，由此产生的信息可以提供有关地球上发生的此类过程的重要见解。
NASA’s Cassini spacecraft ended it mission in 2017, when it crashed into Saturn’s atmosphere. But the U.S. space agency has plans to send another explorer to Titan in 2028. That mission calls for a spacecraft called Dragonfly to travel to Titan to observe many different areas. The planned explorer, called a rotorcraft, operates similar to a helicopter.
NASA 的卡西尼号航天器于 2017 年坠入土星大气层，结束了其任务。但美国航天局计划在 2028 年派遣另一名探险家前往泰坦。该任务需要一艘名为“蜻蜓”的航天器前往泰坦，观察许多不同的区域。计划中的探索者被称为旋翼机，其操作方式类似于直升机。