This radar image, obtained by Cassini's radar instrument during a
near-polar flyby on Feb. 22, 2007, shows dunes surrounding a bright
feature on Saturn's moon Titan.
Dunes have been previously seen on Titan, so far concentrated near the
equator. They are thought to be composed of small hydrocarbon or water ice
particles-- probably about 250 microns in diameter, similar to sand grains
on Earth. These are formed into dunes by the prevailing west-to-east
surface winds. Because of the shape and length of the dunes, they are
probably "longitudinal" (lying in the same direction as the average wind)
rather than transverse dunes, which form across the wind and are more
common on Earth.
There are several kinds of interaction between the dunes and the brighter
features in this image. At the left, the dunes seem to be covering the
bright material, while at the center and right, they seem to be terminated
against it. At the lower center and lower right, they flow around it (see
also PIA08738 and PIA08454). These various interactions will help us to
determine the nature of both of these features.
This image was taken in synthetic aperture mode at 700-meter (2,300-foot)
resolution. North is toward the left. The image is centered at about 3.5
degrees south latitude and 37.3 degrees west longitude.
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.
