This Cassini radar image shows two lakes "kissing" each other on the
surface of Saturn's moon Titan.
The image from a flyby on Sept. 23, 2006, covers an area about 60
kilometers (37 miles) wide by 40 kilometers (25 miles) high.
This pass was primarily dedicated to the ion and neutral mass spectrometer
instrument, so although, the volume of radar data was small, scientists
were amazed to see Earth-like lakes. With Titan's colder temperatures and
hydrocarbon-rich atmosphere, however, the lakes likely contain a
combination of methane and ethane, not water.
In this image, near 73 degrees north latitude, 46 degrees west longitude,
two lakes are seen, each 20 to 25 kilometers (12 to 16 miles) across. They
are joined by a relatively narrow channel. The lake on the right has
lighter patches within it, indicating that it may be slowly drying out as
the northern summer approaches.
The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European
Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory,
a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages
the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The
Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and
assembled at JPL. The radar instrument team is based at JPL, working with
team members from the United States and several European countries.
For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.cfm.
