Scientists detect 'waves' on Saturn's moon Titan

Scientists have revealed that they have detected the first ever liquid waves on the surface of Saturn's moon Titan.

The researchers have found sign of isolated ripples in a sea called Punga Mare on Titan's surface, which are not filled with water, but are filled with hydrocarbons like methane and ethane, the BBC reported.

Jason Barnes, planetary scientist from the University of Idaho in Moscow, who used a mathematical model to investigate the images taken by Cassini probe, said that what people are seeing seems to be consistent with waves at just a few locations in Punga Mare with a slope of six degrees.

He also said that other possibilities, such as a wet mudflat, could not be ruled out.

Ralph Lorenz, from the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Maryland said that the expectation is the winds will start getting strong enough as we move into northern summer, and the waves will start picking up.

Lorenz added that a meter of storm surge, a meter of tides, is certainly within the realms of possibility for Titan, but if it can be seen with Cassini is another matter.