This radar image shows the entire scene in which hydrocarbon lakes were
first discovered on Titan, near its north pole (see PIA08630). This image was
acquired on July 22, 2006, by Cassini's radar instrument in synthetic
aperture mode.
The most striking landforms are the lakes: dark patches, some circular,
some irregular, many with apparently steep rims, over much of the terrain
north of 70 degrees latitude. The most convincing lake forms occur at the
narrowest, central part of the scene, which is at the highest latitudes.
Here they have short, stubby channels leading into them, and brighter
areas within that indicate either dried-up lakes or that we are seeing
through a transparent liquid.
The image also shows the considerable variation in the kinds of surface
features found at different latitudes. Beginning at the left (20 degrees
north by 142 degrees west) and heading north, a circular feature about 75
kilometers (47 miles) in diameter is seen, which could be either an impact
crater or a volcanic caldera. Other less distinct circular forms are seen
next, possibly including some dried lakes, followed by some ridge-like
terrain with dark meandering channels or valleys. The dark lakes begin to
appear next (at about 70 degrees north), with more distinct lakes in the
middle of the scene, where the swath is closest to the pole and starts to
descend to the south. Farther on, apparently dry lakes and canyons begin
to dominate, and the region becomes more complex and etched. At the
extreme right end, dunes similar to those seen previously mingle with
brighter features. The swath ends at 13 degrees north by 347 degrees west.
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 was designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The radar
instrument was built by JPL and the Italian Space Agency, 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.