The Lakes and Seas of Titan
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]
< Réduire
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]
Langue
en
Article de revue
Ce document a été publié dans
Eos, Transactions American Geophysical Union. 2007, vol. 88, p. 569-570
American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Résumé en anglais
The study of Titan, Saturn's largest satellite, is a major goal of the Cassini-Huygens mission. This joint project between NASA, the European Space Agency, and the Italian Space Agency consists of a Saturn orbiter (Cassini) ...Lire la suite >
The study of Titan, Saturn's largest satellite, is a major goal of the Cassini-Huygens mission. This joint project between NASA, the European Space Agency, and the Italian Space Agency consists of a Saturn orbiter (Cassini) and a Titan probe (Huygens). Since the mission's arrival at Saturn in July 2004, one of its most spectacular discoveries has been the finding of the first extraterrestrial nonmagmatic standing bodies of liquid: Titan's hydrocarbon lakes and seas. In July 2006, the first synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images of Titan's north polar region btained by the Cassini spacecraft showed dozens of lakes above latitudes of 70° [Stofan et al., 2007]. Subsequent SAR images obtained by Cassini have covered approximately 68% of Titan's north polar region at latitudes above 60 degrees. These images show more than 400 radar-dark areas that we interpret as being liquid lakes (shown in dark blue in Figure 1), including a few that are so large that they rightfully may be called seas. We discuss here the evidence for liquids on Titan, the distribution and morphology of lakes, and recent data that indicate the presence of lakes in the south polar regions.< Réduire
Mots clés en anglais
Planetary Sciences: Solar System Objects: Titan
Planetary Sciences: Solar System Objects: Saturnian satellites
Planetary Sciences: Solar System Objects: General or miscellaneous
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