Space & Astronomy

Cassini spots Nile-like river on Titan

By T.K. Randall
December 15, 2012 ·  26 comments

Image Credit: NASA The image is being hailed as the first high-resolution photograph ever taken of a river system of this size somewhere other than the Earth. Despite its similarity to the river Nile, the Titan river would be quite unlike anything ever seen by humans - filled with a strange hydrocarbon liquid generated by ethane and methane raining from the skies.

"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 Cassini radar team associate Jani Radebaugh.

The full resolution image can be viewed - here.[!gad]The image is being hailed as the first high-resolution photograph ever taken of a river system of this size somewhere other than the Earth. Despite its similarity to the river Nile, the Titan river would be quite unlike anything ever seen by humans - filled with a strange hydrocarbon liquid generated by ethane and methane raining from the skies.

"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 Cassini radar team associate Jani Radebaugh.

The full resolution image can be viewed - here.

Source: Space.com | Comments (26)

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