Kamloops Astronomical Society - KAS
  • Main
  • Photo Gallery
  • Observing
  • Stake Lake Star Park
  • Links
  • Contact Us

Titan's 'Nile River' Discovered

12/12/2012

0 Comments

 
From NASA:

PASADENA, Calif. - Scientists with NASA's Cassini mission have spotted what appears to be a miniature, extraterrestrial likeness of Earth's Nile River: a river valley on Saturn's moon Titan that stretches more than 200 miles (400 kilometers) from its "headwaters" to a large sea. It is the first time images have revealed a river system this vast and in such high resolution anywhere other than Earth.

Scientists deduce that the river, which is in Titan's north polar region, is filled with liquid hydrocarbons because it appears dark along its entire length in the high-resolution radar image, indicating a smooth surface.

"Though there are some short, local meanders, the relative straightness of the river valley suggests it follows the trace of at least one fault, similar to other large rivers running into the southern margin of this same Titan sea," said Jani Radebaugh, a Cassini radar team associate at Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah. "Such faults - fractures in Titan's bedrock -- may not imply plate tectonics, like on Earth, but still lead to the opening of basins and perhaps to the formation of the giant seas themselves."

The new image is available online at:
 http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/cassini/multimedia/pia16197.html .


Picture
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Older Posts

    November 2013
    July 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011


    Categories

    All

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.