Xanadu (Titan)
Feature type | Bright albedo feature |
---|---|
Coordinates | 15°S 100°W / 15°S 100°W |
Diameter | 3,400 km |
Eponym | Xanadu |
Xanadu (often called "Xanadu Regio", though this is not its official name) is a highly reflective area on the leading hemisphere of Saturn's moon Titan. Its name comes from an alternate transcription of Shangdu, the summer capital of the Yuan dynasty established by Kublai Khan and made famous by Samuel Taylor Coleridge.[1]
The feature was first identified in 1994 by astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope at infrared wavelengths, and has recently been imaged in more detail by the Cassini space probe. Xanadu is about the size of Australia. Preliminary observations indicate that Xanadu is a plateau-like region of highly reflective water ice, contrasting somewhat with the darker lower regions. These in turn seem to contrast quite sharply with the very dark maria, which were once believed to be seas of liquid hydrocarbons, but are now thought to be plains.
Recent images by Cassini during encounters in October and December 2004 reveal complex
Radar images taken by Cassini have revealed dunes, hills, rivers and valleys present on Xanadu. The features are likely carved in water ice by liquid methane or ethane.[2] Water ice behaves similarly to rock at the pressures and temperatures present on Titan's surface.
See also
References
External links
- Map of Titan with Xanadu and Huygens landing site visible from the Cassini–Huygens mission homepage
- "Xanadu". Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. USGS Astrogeology Research Program.
- Patch of Saturn's Moon Resembles Earth
- Cassini finds land on Titan Lucy Sherriff (The Register) Thursday 20 July 2006 13:36 GMT