Titan

Moon· orbits Saturn

Titan is Saturn's largest moon and the only moon with a thick atmosphere — a hazy, organic-rich nitrogen world with rivers, lakes and seas of liquid methane and ethane on a frigid water-ice surface.

Open in 3D viewSee Titan in the live, interactive 3D map

Key facts

Mass

1.35 × 10²³ kg

0.0225 M⊕

Radius

2,575 km

1.48× wider than our Moon

Surface gravity

1.35 m/s²

14% of Earth's

Day length

15.9 days

Orbit around Saturn

15.95 Earth days

Science

Physical

Mass: 1.35 × 10²³ kg · 0.0225 M⊕
Radius: 2,575 km · 1.48× wider than our Moon
Density: 1,881 kg/m³ · 1.9× water
Surface gravity: 1.35 m/s² · 14% of Earth's
Escape velocity: 2.64 km/s · 24% of Earth's

Orbit around Saturn

Distance from Saturn: 4,000,404 km
Orbital period: 15.9 days
Eccentricity: 0.029
Inclination: 0.30 °

Rotation

Rotation period: 15.9 days
Tidal locking: Tidally locked to its parent

Atmosphere

Composition: ~95% N₂, ~5% CH₄
Surface pressure: 1.47 bar
Scale height: 40 km

Temperature

Surface: 94 K (-179 °C)

Composition

Bulk composition: A thick nitrogen atmosphere over a water-ice crust and a probable subsurface water–ammonia ocean, with a rock-rich interior; the surface hosts methane–ethane lakes.

Radiation & temperature

Insolation: 0.0112 S⊕ · 1% of the sunlight Earth receives
Bond albedo: 0.22 · reflects 22% of incoming sunlight
Equilibrium temperature: 85 K (-188 °C)
Surface temperature: 94 K (-179 °C)
Greenhouse warming: +9 K

Discovery & history

Discovered: March 25, 1655
By: Christiaan Huygens
Method: Visual discovery (telescopic)
Name: The Titans of Greek myth; the name was proposed much later by John Herschel.

Christiaan Huygens discovered Saturn's largest moon in 1655. Titan is the only moon with a thick atmosphere and the only world besides Earth known to have standing liquid on its surface — but of methane and ethane, not water. In 2005 the Huygens probe parachuted to its surface, the most distant landing humans have ever achieved.

2005HuygensLander
The most distant landing ever achieved — revealed Titan's methane rivers and frozen plains.

Images

Titan's hazy disc in natural colour, imaged by Cassini — NASA / JPL / Space Science Institute (public domain) · Wikimedia Commons

Behold Belet — NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute · NASA Image Library

Glowing Titan — NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute · NASA Image Library

Craters Before Haze — NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute · NASA Image Library

True Colors, Deceptive Sizes — NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute · NASA Image Library

Tethys Before Titan — NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute · NASA Image Library

Welcome Disruption — NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute · NASA Image Library

Colorful Northern Crescent — NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute · NASA Image Library

Images from open archives · credit shown per image