Collection:
NASA Planetary Photo Journal Collection Collection NASA Planetary Photo Journal Collection Collection
Title:
Complex Terrain Title Complex Terrain Title
Original Caption Released with Image:
This complex area of hilly terrain and erosional channels is located atop Xanadu, the continent-sized region on Saturn's moon Titan. The image was captured by the Cassini Titan Radar Mapper on April 30, 2006. It shows details as small as 350 meters (1148 feet). Each side of the picture covers 200 kilometers (124 miles). Chains of hills or mountains are located near the bottom of the image, appearing bright on their north side (toward the top in this image). Extending further north is a drainage region where liquids flowed, eroding the presumably water-ice bedrock of Xanadu. Careful inspection reveals a series of faint drainage channels, some of which appear to empty into the dark region near the top of the image. Liquid methane might be fed from springs within Xanadu or by occasional rainfall suspected to occur on Titan. There is evidence for this rainfall in images taken by the Descent Imager/Spectral Radiometer camera on the Huygens probe as it landed, well to the west of this area, on January 14, 2005 (see PIA07238). The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter was designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The radar instrument was built by JPL and the Italian Space Agency, working with team members from the United States and several European countries. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.cfm. Original_Caption_Rel eased_with_Image This complex area of hilly terrain and erosional channels is located atop Xanadu, the continent-sized region on Saturn's moon Titan. The image was captured by the Cassini Titan Radar Mapper on April 30, 2006. It shows details as small as 350 meters (1148 feet). Each side of the picture covers 200 kilometers (124 miles). Chains of hills or mountains are located near the bottom of the image, appearing bright on their north side (toward the top in this image). Extending further north is a drainage region where liquids flowed, eroding the presumably water-ice bedrock of Xanadu. Careful inspection reveals a series of faint drainage channels, some of which appear to empty into the dark region near the top of the image. Liquid methane might be fed from springs within Xanadu or by occasional rainfall suspected to occur on Titan. There is evidence for this rainfall in images taken by the Descent Imager/Spectral Radiometer camera on the Huygens probe as it landed, well to the west of this area, on January 14, 2005 (see PIA07238). The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter was designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The radar instrument was built by JPL and the Italian Space Agency, working with team members from the United States and several European countries. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.cfm. Original Caption Released with Image
Image Credit:
NASA/JPL Image_Credit NASA/JPL Image Credit
Produced By:
JPL Produced_By JPL Produced By
Mission:
Cassini Mission Cassini Mission
Spacecraft:
Cassini Orbiter Spacecraft Cassini Orbiter Spacecraft
Target Name:
Titan Target_Name Titan Target Name
Is a satellite of:
Saturn Is_a_satellite_of Saturn Is a satellite of
Instrument:
Radar Mapper Instrument Radar Mapper Instrument
Product Size:
1191 samples x 1163 lines Product_Size 1191 samples x 1163 lines Product Size
Primary Data Set:
Cassini Primary_Data_Set Cassini Primary Data Set
facet_what:
Moon facet_what Moon facet_what
facet_what:
Saturn facet_what Saturn facet_what
facet_what:
Cassini facet_what Cassini facet_what
facet_what:
Titan facet_what Titan facet_what
facet_what:
Imager facet_what Imager facet_what
facet_what:
Cassini Orbiter facet_what Cassini Orbiter facet_what
facet_what:
Huygens Probe facet_what Huygens Probe facet_what
facet_what:
Cassini-Huygens facet_what Cassini-Huygens facet_what
facet_what:
Descent Imager facet_what Descent Imager facet_what
facet_what:
Spectral Radiometer facet_what Spectral Radiometer facet_what
facet_what:
Radar Mapper facet_what Radar Mapper facet_what
facet_where:
Jet Propulsion Laboratory facet_where Jet Propulsion Laboratory facet_where
facet_where:
Saturn facet_where Saturn facet_where
facet_where:
California facet_where California facet_where
facet_where:
Washington facet_where Washington facet_where
facet_where:
Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) facet_where Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) facet_where
facet_where:
Washington, D.C. facet_where Washington, D.C. facet_where
facet_where:
United States of America facet_where United States of America facet_where
facet_when:
January 14, 2005 facet_when January 14, 2005 facet_when
facet_when:
April 30, 2006 facet_when April 30, 2006 facet_when
facet_when_year:
2005 facet_when_year 2005 facet_when_year
facet_when_year:
2006 facet_when_year 2006 facet_when_year
Image #:
PIA08449 Image_# PIA08449 Image #
UID:
SPD-PHOTJ-PIA08449 UID SPD-PHOTJ-PIA08449 UID
orignial url:
http://photojournal… orignial_url http://photojournal… orignial url

Complex Terrain

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Complex Terrain