Title:

The origin of Titan

Authors:

Douglas P. Hamilton

Abstract:

Titan is arguably the Solar System's most unusual satellite. It is huge, outmassing the rest of Saturn's satellites by a factor of 20, and it is the only moon with a substantial atmosphere. It shares a unique resonance with nearby Hyperion, but its next closest neighbor, Rhea, is over 10 Saturn radii away. Titan has the largest eccentricity of all Saturn's regular satellites and has a reasonably large inclination as well. None of these peculiarities are fully understood.

In this talk I will summarize previous suggestions for Titan's origins. I will also discuss constaints that a successful model of Titan's origins must satisfy, and will detail the beginnings of my search for a model that can explain the origin of Titan's unusual properties in a natural way.