Cassini Probe Finds Gas Lake on Titan

The Italian Space Agency says the Cassini spacecraft has found a huge methane gas lake on Titan — the largest and most mysterious of Saturn’s moons.

Astronomers say that discovery could make Titan the only place outside Earth known to have lakes, the Italian news agency ANSA reported.

Italian Space Agency astronomers say the lake near Titan’s south pole is about the size of Lake Ontario and might have been produced by a volcanic eruption or an asteroid impact.

The Cassini-Huygens spacecraft began its sweep of Titan in January 2005, sending back the first data on an atmosphere resembling Earth’s when life began. Cassini was the first man-made device to encounter the moon — and the first to orbit Saturn, ANSA said.

The probe was built by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency.