Overview
- Researchers led by Matija Ćuk at the SETI Institute posted the work on arXiv on February 9, and it has been accepted by the Planetary Science Journal though it has not yet been peer‑reviewed.
- Computer models propose that two proto‑moons merged about 400 million years ago to form Titan, resurfacing it and leaving the moon on a more elliptical orbit.
- Debris from the merger could have produced Hyperion, while the pre‑merger body may explain Iapetus’s tilted orbit and help reconcile Saturn’s measured precession rate.
- As Titan migrated outward, its altered orbit may have driven resonances that destabilized inner moons, whose collisions likely generated the rings roughly 100 million years ago.
- NASA’s Dragonfly mission, slated to reach Titan in 2034, could test the hypothesis by seeking geological and chemical signs of large‑scale resurfacing.