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Revision as of 19:32, 18 June 2014 by Artman40 (talk | contribs) (Added template)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Doom Mons is the name of a mountain range and its eponymous peak on Titan, the largest moon of the planet Saturn. Doom Mons is the largest mountain range on Titan by volume, and its peak possibly the highest. Doom Mons was discovered by the Cassini–Huygens probe in 2005 and officially named in 2012.
Location on Titan
Doom Mons is located in the southern hemisphere of Titan, between 14-15° south and 40-41° west. It is located within the Aztlan darklands region, possibly connected to the wider Shangri-la dark region, and is adjacent to Sotra Patera, a possible cryovolcanic caldera 1.7 km deep.
Characteristics and height
From 2005, the findings of the Cassini–Huygens probe have revealed a largely smooth surface of Titan, with some notable abnormalities. Many Titanean "mountains" are little more than hills. However, some of these mountains rise to some several hundreds of meters high. Doom Mons is currently believed to be possibly the largest Titanean mountain range and with the eponymous peak the highest, although there is uncertainty as to this; this title may also rest with other related contenders such the Mithrim Montes, which may have been formed by global contraction. Doom Mons is believed to be a twin-peak that rises over a mile above the relatively flat surrounding plain, and a possible massive cryovolcano, but its exact nature of formation is unknown. Doom Mons is constantly bombarded with wind, rain and snow composed of liquid methane and ethane, hydrocarbon dust and organic smog and tholin haze; the summit of Doom Mons, however, appears to be mostly clear and ice-capped with water ice. The superficial features of Doom Mons are constantly changing, a fact which may be exacerbated by a sub-surface, briny ocean. The permanent hurricane at the southern pole of Titan probably causes an issue of constant erosion on Doom Mons, preventing the mountain from growing taller. Doom Mons is believed to cover a total diameter of 63 kilometers. Robert Brown of the University of Arizona, one of the controllers of the Cassini-Huygens probe, believed Doom Mons closer to 2 kilometers high and over 150 kilometers long. He hypothesized that it was a vertical version of the pancake-like Ganesa Macula. Brown announced his findings on December 11, 2006, at a meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco, California. Brown said:
"This mountain range is tall enough to produce streamers of clouds that extend far around the moon. You could call this the Titan Sierras. Several smaller ranges appear to be nearby, as does a circular feature that might be the crater from an ancient asteroid impact powerful enough to have punched through Titan's outer crust. I speculate that the mountains might be a chain of volcanoes that oozed up along cracks in the crust after the impact."
Naming
Doom Mons is named after Mount Doom, a volcano that appears in J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional world of Middle-earth, most prominently in The Lord of the Rings. The name follows a convention by the IAU Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature that Titanean mountains are named after mountains in Tolkien's works. Other examples of Titanean mountains or mountain ranges named after Tolkien's works include Erebor Mons, Irensaga Montes, Mindolluin Montes, Misty Montes, Mithrim Montes, and Taniquetil Montes. The name of Mount Doom was formally announced for the Titanean mountain on November 13, 2012.
Fiction
Coincidentally, prior to the naming of Doom Mons, a fictional mountain range of Titan already existed that carried the name "Mount Doom"; this was a major setting in the 1935 science-fiction tale Flight on Titan by Stanley G. Weinbaum. This was one of the locations in the Titan portion of Weinbaum's acclaimed Planetary series. Weinbaum's Mount Doom was alternatively referred to in the tale as the "Mountains of Death", or "Mountains of The Damned"; it was populated by hostile native wildlife such as "Ice-Ants", "Whiplash Trees", pterodactyl-like "Knife-Kites", and the hypnosis-inducing "Giant Titanian Cave Threadworm". The climate of Weinbaum's mountain is described as sub-Arctic, and it is constantly battered by howling ice-needle storms and hurricane-force winds.
References
- ^ "Doom Mons". Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. International Astronomical Union (IAU) Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN). 2012-11-13. Retrieved 2014-06-06.
- United States Geological Survey. "Titan with VIMS background and RADAR strips". Accessed 14 Nov, 2012.
- Lopes, R. M. C. (2013-03-19). "Cryovolcanism on Titan: New results from Cassini RADAR and VIMS". Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets. 118: 1–20. doi:10.1002/jgre.20062. Retrieved 2013-04-10.
{{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/science/index.cfm?SciencePageID=76
- http://www.howtogeek.com/trivia/to-visit-mount-doom-in-real-life-you-must-travel-where/
- http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2010JE003592/abstract
- http://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2007/pdf/1329.pdf
- http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/cassini/media/cassini-20061212.html
- http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/12/071220223729.htm
- http://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/15044?__fsk=-1625367587
- http://news.nationalgeographic.co.uk/news/2006/12/061213-titan.html
- International Astronomical Union. "Categories for Naming Features on Planets and Satellites". Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. Accessed Nov 14, 2012.
- Jennifer Blue, "Eight New Names for Titan Surface Features". USGS Astrologeology Science Center. Nov 13, 2012.
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