Titan Moon Facts
Saturn Moon Titan
Natural color image of Titan taken by Cassini, the moon is covered by a thick atmosphere
  • Titan is the sixth moon in distance from Saturn.
  • It is the largest of Saturn's moons and the second largest in the solar system.
  • Titan has a diameter of 3,200 miles (5150 km) which is larger than the planet Mercury and 50% larger than our own moon.
  • It orbits around Saturn at a distance of 759,000 miles (1.2 million km) taking 16 days to complete one orbit of the planet.
  • Titan is the only moon in the solar system with a significant atmosphere.
  • It is the only body in the solar system apart from Earth known to have large areas of liquid on its surface.
  • Bodies of standing liquid methane on Titan are as large as the Great Lakes of North America.
  • Like water on Earth methane exists on Titan as a liquid, solid and a gas. Rain falls on Titan in the form of liquid methane.
  • Atmospheric pressure on Titan is only 1.6 greater of that on Earth.
surface of titan
Artist's impression of a landscape on Titan
Titan's Surface
A lack of crater impacts on Titan indicates a surface which has been modified by flowing liquids. Standing lakes of liquid methane exist on the surface as well as dry river valleys. There is also evidence for cryovolcanism, where instead of spewing molten rock, volcanoes erupt with water and ammonia.
Titan's Temperature
The average temperature on Titan's surface is -179C (-290F).
Titan's Atmosphere
Titan has an extremely thick atmosphere and like Earth it consists mainly of nitrogen, 95% in the case of Titan compared to 78% on Earth. The remaining 5% is made up of methane (3%) and hydrogen (2%).
lake on titan
Could life exist in the lakes on Titan?
Life on Titan
It is believed the atmosphere of early Earth was very similar in composition to what we see on Titan today. As a result Titan is often compared to a frozen version of primordial Earth. As methane is a substitute for water on Titan some forms of methanogenic lifeforms could exist in the harsh conditions. Another theory is that liquid ammonia oceans could be present deep under the surface which could provide an environment for microbial life to exist.
Origin of Name
Christiaan Huygens named the moon Saturnas Luna (Saturn's moon) after his discovery in 1655. After Giovanni Domenico Cassini discovered four more moons between 1673 and 1686 it was renamed Saturn IV (Saturn 4) as it was then thought to be the fourth moon. In 1847 John Herschel, son of William Herschel, suggested that Saturn's moons be named after the Titans, a race of powerful deities from Greek mythology. He suggested the moon be simply named Titan.