December 1, 2009

One of my favorites is the Science Channel. Last night I watched an episode of The Universe on the theme of liquids in the universe. When thinking of liquids we often consider only liquid H2O or water. The program took us to Saturn's moon Titan. There with temperatures of around -290 degrees water ice would be rock solid, however Methane would be in a liquid form rather than a gas as it would be here on Earth. Liquid methane would present different properties than liquid water. Liquid methane is less dense, clearer due to not breaking down materials as water does. Methane being less dense than water it was suggested that, for a 200 pound man, trying to dogpaddle in liquid methane it would be like trying to do so in water with an 80 weight wrapped around them. Then again, it would be a brave soul who would do so considering that the temperature would be around -290 degrees. Jupiter is a whole different set of circumstances with pressures and temps increasing to the point that liquid hydrogen appears. Continuing further the liquid hydrogen becomes liquid metallic hydrogen. From various computer generated images I sketched this small sketchbook image and an ATC taken from the sketchbook.