The Lakes of Titan

J. Lunine (1) , E. Stofan (2) , C. Elachi (3) , R. Lorenz (4) , B. Stiles (3) , K. L. Mitchell (3) , S. Ostro (3) , L. Soderblom (5) , C. Wood (6) , H. Zebker (7) , S. Wall (3) , M. Janssen (3) , R. Kirk (5) , R. Lopes (3) , F. Paganelli (3) , J. Radebaugh (1) , L. Wye (8) , P. Callahan (3) , Y. Anderson (3) , M. Allison (9) , R. Boehmer (3) , P. Encrenaz (10) , E. Flamini (11) , G. Franceschetti (12) , Y. Gim (3) , G. Hamilton (3) , S. Hensely , W. T. Johnson (3) , K. Kelleher (3) , D. Muhleman (13) , Philippe Paillou (14, 15, 16) , G. Picardi (17) , F. Posa (18) , L. Roth (3) , R. Seu (17) , S. Shaffer (3) , S. Vetrella (12) , R. West (3) , R. Orosei (19)

1 LPL - Lunar and Planetary Laboratory [Tucson]
2 Proxemy Research Inc
3 JPL - Jet Propulsion Laboratory
4 APL - Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory [Laurel, MD]
5 US Geological Survey [Flagstaff]
6 Wheeling Jesuit University
7 Department of Electrical Engineering [Stanford]
8 Stanford University
9 GISS - NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies
10 LERMA - Laboratoire d'Etude du Rayonnement et de la Matière en Astrophysique
11 Alenia Aerospazio
12 Facoltá di Ingegneria
13 Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences [Pasadena]
14 L3AB - Laboratoire d'astrodynamique, d'astrophysique et d'aéronomie de bordeaux
15 OASU - Observatoire aquitain des sciences de l'univers
16 LAB - Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Bordeaux [Pessac]
17 Dipartimento INFOCOM [Roma]
18 Dipartimento Interateneo di Fisica
19 CNR-IASF

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.

Mots clés: 5225 Early environment of Earth; 5419 Hydrology and fluvial processes; 5462 Polar regions; 5470 Surface materials and properties; 6281 Titan

Domaines: Planétologie et astrophysique de la terre [astro-ph.EP]; Planétologie et astrophysique de la terre [astro-ph.EP]

J. Lunine, E. Stofan, C. Elachi, R. Lorenz, B. Stiles, et al.. The Lakes of Titan. 2006AGUFM.P11A.05L - American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2006, abstract #P11A-05, 2006, United States. ⟨hal-00405615⟩