Explanation:
Why would some regions on Titan reflect very little radar?
The leading explanation is that these regions are lakes, possibly composed of liquid methane.
The
above image
is a false-color synthetic radar map of a northern region of
Titan
taken during a flyby of the
cloudy moon by the
robotic Cassini spacecraft last July.
On this map, which spans about 150 kilometers across,
dark regions reflect relatively little of the broadcast
radar signal.
Images like this show
Titan to be only the second body in the
Solar System to possess liquids on the surface.
Future observations from Cassini during
Titan flybys will further test the
methane lake hypothesis,
as comparative wind effects on the regions are studied.
