This image from Cassini's radar instrument was acquired by the Cassini
radar instrument in synthetic aperture mode during a Sept. 7, 2006, flyby
of Titan.
The image shows long, dark ridges similar to those seen in previous
flybys. These are interpreted to be longitudinal dunes. Dunes are mostly
an equatorial phenomenon on Titan, and the material forming them may be
solid organic particles or ice coated with organic material. Spaced up to
3 kilometers (about 2 miles) apart, these dunes curve around bright
features that may be high-standing topographic obstacles, in conformity
with the wind patterns. The interaction between the two types of features
is complex and not well understood, but clearly the topography and the
dunes have influenced each other in other ways as well.
This image is centered at 44 degrees west longitude, 8 degrees north
latitude and covers approximately 160 by 325 kilometers (99 by 202 miles)
on Titan's surface. The smallest details in this image are about 500
meters (about 550 yards) across.
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.
