PAILLOU, Philippe
Laboratoire d'astrodynamique, d'astrophysique et d'aéronomie de bordeaux [L3AB]
Observatoire aquitain des sciences de l'univers [OASU]
Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Bordeaux [Pessac] [LAB]

PICARDI, G.
Dipartimento INFOCOM [Roma]

POSA, F.
Dipartimento Interateneo di Fisica

ROTH, L.
Jet Propulsion Laboratory [JPL]

SEU, R.
Dipartimento INFOCOM [Roma]

SHAFFER, S.
Jet Propulsion Laboratory [JPL]

VETRELLA, S.
Facoltá di Ingegneria

WEST, R.
Jet Propulsion Laboratory [JPL]

OROSEI, R.
Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale e Fisica cosmica - Roma [IASF-Roma]

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Langue

Communication dans un congrès

Ce document a été publié dans

2006AGUFM.P11A..05L - American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2006, abstract #P11A-05, 2006.

Résumé en anglais

The Cassini Radar flyby of Saturn's moon Titan on 22 July 2006 (T16) provides compelling evidence for the presence of liquid lakes on the surface of Titan. The radar images polewards of 70°N show over 75 circular to irregular radar dark patches from 3 km to over 170 km across, in a region where liquid methane and ethane are expected to be abundant and stable on the surface. Some patches are uniformly dark in appearance, with no measureable echo, while others vary in brightness. We interpret these as lakes based on their very low radar reflectivity and morphological similarities to lakes, including associated channels, location in topographic depressions and multiple shorelines. Lakes appear in a number of apparent states, including fully drained, partially dry and liquid-filled. These northern hemisphere lakes constitute the strongest evidence yet that a condensable-liquid hydrological cycle is active in Titan's surface and atmosphere, in which the lakes are filled through rainfall and/or intersection with the subsurface `liquid methane' table.< Réduire

Mots clés en anglais

5225 Early environment of Earth

5419 Hydrology and fluvial processes

5462 Polar regions

5470 Surface materials and properties

6281 Titan

Origine

Importé de hal

Unités de recherche

Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Bordeaux (LAB) - UMR 5804

Métadonnées

Licence d’utilisation du document

The Lakes of Titan