Cassini spots large mountains on Titan

Posted on Sunday, December 17 2006 @ 7:30 CET by Thomas De Maesschalck
Space craft Cassini's infrared cameras have seen tall mountains on Saturn's moon Titan:
The mountain chain is nearly a mile high (1.5 kilometers), 93 miles long (150 kilometers) and 19 miles wide (30 kilometers). The mountains are topped by bright, white material which may be methane or other organic (carbon-containing) "snow."

"We see a massive mountain range that reminds me of the Sierra Nevada in the western United States," said Cassini scientist Robert H. Brown of the University of Arizona Lunar and Planetary Laboratory in Tucson. Brown is head of Cassini's visual and infrared mapping spectrometer (VIMS), which imaged the mountains in Titan's southern hemisphere during the Oct. 25, 2006 flyby.

The camera took its highest-resolution infrared views of Titan ever during this flyby, resolving surface features as small as 400 meters, or about 440 yards. Other features seen in the high-resolution VIMS images include fields of dunes and a deposit that resembles a volcanic flow.
More info and photos at PhysOrg.


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Thomas De Maesschalck

Thomas has been messing with computer since early childhood and firmly believes the Internet is the best thing since sliced bread. Enjoys playing with new tech, is fascinated by science, and passionate about financial markets. When not behind a computer, he can be found with running shoes on or lifting heavy weights in the weight room.



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