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International Edition Winners 2010: Turkey -- Target 2 (1)

International Edition Winners 2010: Turkey -- Target 2 (1)



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Titan and Tethys
Titan and Tethys
Mr. Emre ORHAN

10th grade

Teacher Advisor: Mrs. Muge OZGONUL

Istanbul


"After I learned about three targets of Cassini Space Craft, I decided that "Target 2" is the best choice among the others because we observe Saturn's biggest moon; Titan, which has the Earth-like weather and surface processes and also we have chance to observe Saturn's rings, two other moons Thetys and Enceladus.

First of all, by choosing Target 2, we can calculate the rotation of these three moons. Normally, we cannot calculate the rotation of Saturn exactly because it is a gas giant which there is no specific point on it that stays constant to take as a reference point. However because Titan, Enceladus and Thethys have solid surfaces we can take a reference point on them and calculate the rotations by waiting for it to turn 360° until it will return to the same location.

These three moons; Titan, Enceladus, Thetys are in Saturn's orbit. The distance between each moon and Saturn is different. So that means each of the moon completes one turn around Saturn in different times. By observing these three moons, Target 2 gives us the chance that allows us to have information about the period of the each moon for one turn around Saturn.

We know that the dust and the icy particles are spread by Enceladus to all around the Saturn system and the ones falling onto the Thethys make this moon one of the brightest moons in the Solar System. Since we observe these 2 moons with Cassini Spacecraft if we choose Target 2, scientists will be able to observe this process and have more information about this. They will have chance to observe how often does Enceladus spread these particles into the Saturn System and during which part of the rotation Thetys will have the brightest surface and this could not be observed up to now and if we choose Target 2 we could find out this.
Titan is the only object other than Earth for which clear evidence of stable bodies of surface liquid has been found. Therefore, Titan carries a huge weight with humanity. After centuries or maybe thousands of years, mankind will need another world to survive so that Titan should definitely be observed and we must have more information about this only natural satellite known to have a dense atmosphere. It is supposed that there are lakes on this moon made of methane and ethane. But if we choose Target 2, we will be observing Titan constantly and we may find another lakes made of other organic compounds and we can make more conclusion about the lakes, whether conditions and the other events occur in the eco-system of Titan. Thus, it will also help us have more information about the conditions of Earth when it has the Titan-like surface process. And maybe, the evidence we find on Titan make humans go to search for this amazing moon.

Lastly, we come across with Saturn's incredible mysterious rings which are made of dust, water ice and some other chemicals. We can learn more about this amazing ring in the light of the pictures taken by Cassini, if we choose Target 2.

Consequently, Target 2 holds key for the humanity with unexpected investigation and discoveries which can provide radical developments in both Astrophysics and Physics. We should accelerate the researches about Titan and this is a huge opportunity that we should not waste. Since having chance to observe two other moons Thetys and Enceladus and also Saturn's mysterious rings increases the possibility of this target to be successful, we "must" choose Target 2."