Saturn's moon Titan drifting 100 times faster than previous estimations: NASA

Scientists at United States' National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the Italian Space Agency (ISA) have recently discovered that Saturn's moon Titan is drifting a hundred times faster than previous estimations.

According to the research, the moon is drifting about 4 inches (11 centimeters) per year. As per NASA, the revised drifting rate suggests that the moon started out much closer to Saturn, underlining the possibility of the entire system expanding faster than previous estimations. 

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The scientists came to a conclusion using data from NASA's Cassini spacecraft. Currently, Titan is 759,000 miles (1.2 million kilometres) from Saturn.

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The recent findings regarding Titan's modified drifting speed also confirm a new theory that explains and predicts how planets affect their moons' orbits. For over the last 50 years, scientists have used the same formula to calculate the time period of a moon drifting away from a planet. According to NASA, the energy created by the bulging and subsiding transfers from the planet to the moon nudges it farther out over time. Meanwhile, Earth's moon drifts 1.5 inches (3.8 centimeters) each year. 

Asteroid passes through Earth

Meanwhile, on Saturday, NASA shared an important piece of information about an asteroid passing near the Earth's surface. The large asteroid which passed safely next to the Earth was said to be bigger than the Empire State Building in Manhattan.

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