Titan flyby 30 as viewed by Cassini's radar

Stretching from 69° north, 329° west to 33° north, 227° west, this swath gently curves from west-to-east at the left end to north-to-south at the right. It is more than 2,700 kilometers (1,678 miles) long and varies from 200 to 500 kilometers (124 to 310 miles) in width, covering the southern extreme of a large dark area.
As displayed here, the extreme left end of the image shows the west margin of a dark area interpreted to be a lake of liquid methane and probably ethane, with obvious shore-like features, such as bays, inlets and islands. Radar images show smooth areas as dark, and this lake is among the darkest areas seen so far on Titan.

The eastern margin of the lake is similarly complex, and some of the shoreline features seem related to ridges and lower topography on the shore, as if the liquid in the lake has filled lower-lying areas between ridges.

Image Credit: NASA/JPL
High resolution image (2.8 MB)

The thin white stripe at immediate left is an artifact related to the instrument's multi-beam operation; throughout the swath there are some near-vertical stripes that are also artifacts.




Image Credit: NASA/JPL




Image Credit: NASA/JPL

Some of these channels drain into the lake, while others go into a slightly brighter, more uniform area that may be connected to the lake just off the lower edge of the image (for more details on this area, see PIA09211). Farther to the right, moving southward, a complex region of ridges and channels transitions to more subdued landforms with circular or lobate features, some of which have raised rims.

The terrain toward the right of the image is rougher, with topographic depressions that resemble dried lakebeds, lacking the dark material seen in the lakes farther north. Toward the right end of the image, farthest from the north pole, a series of long, low depressions is seen against a relatively dark background.

Source: Jet Propulsion Laboratory
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