Seeing by the light - with calculations

Date: 2009-09-21 06:52 pm (UTC)
Titan's much farther away from the sun than Earth is. If you could stand on the deck of the weatherized sailing ship, would the light from the distant sun be enough to let you see the waves? Would they shine by the light of the stars, or by Saturn?

Do calculations spoil poetry? Saturn's about 10 times as far from the sun as Earth is; so light is dimmer by two orders of magnitude, or 6.6 stops. But our eyes' dynamic range is six orders of magnitude, or 20 stops. We should see handily on Titan, even if clouds cost another four stops or so (would that be about right?). And surely Saturn-light would help.

Why not sail? It would be wonderful to explore that sea. You'd need lightweight hull and rigging; methane's about 40% as dense as water. I wonder what waves in methane would look like?
...............................
Using Wikipedia articles "Saturn", "Human eye", "Methane"
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