--- title: NASA: Saturn Moon Titan Has Sign of Previous Life description: One of Saturn's moons has canyons hundreds of feet deep flooded with rivers that signal potential for life, NASA said. canonical: https://time.com/4450810/nasa-saturn-moon-titan/ author: Will Drabold article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-08-12T20:20:25.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T23:57:38.306Z article:section: Science og:title: NASA Just Found Something Interesting on 1 of Saturn's Moons og:description: The only other object in the solar system where bodies of surface liquid have been found og:url: https://time.com/4450810/nasa-saturn-moon-titan/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt250dec48f47a7f97/6988a23a2dce01f2319ea4bf/main_titan_flooded_canyons-still.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1600 og:image:height: 900 og:image:alt: main_titan_flooded_canyons-still og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: NASA Just Found Something Interesting on 1 of Saturn's Moons twitter:description: The only other object in the solar system where bodies of surface liquid have been found twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt250dec48f47a7f97/6988a23a2dce01f2319ea4bf/main_titan_flooded_canyons-still.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # NASA Just Found Something Interesting on 1 of Saturn's Moons > Sponsored content. 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It reaches 40,000 subscribers with a 34.2% open rate and a 2.1% click rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I follow the energy transition as a business story? Future Proof covers climate and energy as an economic and business story rather than only an environmental one. It publishes every Friday and is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who writes Future Proof? Justin Worland, a senior correspondent at TIME and an award-winning climate journalist, writes Future Proof. #### Is Future Proof free? Yes. Future Proof is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Will Drabold](https://time.com/author/will-drabold/) ## Will Drabold Aug 12, 2016 8:20 PM UTC  The large hydrocarbon sea named Ligeia Mare on Saturn's moon Titan, as photographed by NASA's Cassini spacecraft. The large hydrocarbon sea named Ligeia Mare on Saturn's moon Titan, as photographed by NASA's Cassini spacecraft. NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASI/Cornell by [Will Drabold](https://time.com/author/will-drabold/) ## Will Drabold Aug 12, 2016 8:20 PM UTC One of Saturn’s moons [has canyons hundreds of feet deep](https://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/cassini-finds-flooded-canyons-on-titan/) flooded with rivers that signal potential for life, according to a new report from NASA. Multiple canyons on Titan that are up to 1,870 feet deep hold liquid hydrocarbons, a compound found in fossil fuels like oil and natural gas. Hydrocarbons signal the possible past existence of life on Titan, the largest of Saturn’s moons, because hydrocarbons are the product of the breakdown of living material. [NASA researchers said](https://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/cassini-finds-flooded-canyons-on-titan) that even though Earth and Titan have very different environments, there is a striking similarity between Earth’s rivers of water and Titan’s canyons of methane. “Earth is warm and rocky, with rivers of water, while Titan is cold and icy, with rivers of methane,” said Alex Hayes, a Cassini radar team associated at Cornell University and co-author of the study. “And yet it’s remarkable that we find such similar features on both worlds.” The hydrocarbons were discovered from images the Cassini spacecraft took during a flyover of Titan in 2013\. NASA said the way these canyons were carved is similar to how the Grand Canyon was created on Earth, where the Colorado River carved rock rising through the terrain over several million years. 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