Recently released by the NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab, this video is the result of work by an amateur researcher working with surface data produced by the Cassini mission, which has been studying Saturn and its moons since 2005, and which sent the doughty lander Huygens to Titan's surface shortly after its arrival.
Such terrain bears strong similarities to the Karst topography of Utah, and might even suggest caves below the surface.
Dr. Pamela Gay will be at the Kentucky Center on Friday, April 2 for an afternoon presentation sponsored by the IdeaFestival that will touch on the recent phenomenon of "citizen science," and the exciting hunt for life as well. Astronomy and planetary sciences are two areas where amateurs can, and do, make significant contributions to the state of the science.
While most of the 400+ extrasolar planets discovered in just the past fifteen years are "hot Jupiters," astronomers are beginning to turn up worlds closer to Earth in mass. And Titan, as the video demonstrates, hosts geological processes similar to those found in the western United States.
Follow @ideafestival on Twitter for more on Dr. Gay's appearance in Louisville.
Wayne
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