Cassini Surveys the Dunes of Xanadu on Titan

By Nancy Atkinson - August 10, 2011 at 3:36 PM UTC | Planetary Science

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The name "Xanadu" just

sounds

exotic and enticing, and given that this region on Titan is right next to Shangri-la, how can we not be intrigued by the latest radar image of this region taken by the Cassini spacecraft? While Titan itself is shrouded in mystery with its thick, hazy atmosphere, via radar, Cassini can peer through and has found three major surface features: dunes, craters and the enigmatic Xanadu, a bright continent-sized feature centered near the moon's equator. At upper right is the crater Ksa, first seen by Cassini in 2006. The dark lines running among Xanadu and Ksa are linear dunes, similar to sand dunes on Earth in Egypt and Namibia. In addition to the dunes, look closely at Xanadu to see hills, rivers and valleys which scientists believe are carved in ice rather than solid ground, by liquid methane or ethane.

This image was taken by Cassini's Titan Radar Mapper on June 21, 2011.

Source:

JPL

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson is a space journalist and author with a passion for telling the stories of people involved in space exploration and astronomy. She is currently retired from daily writing, but worked at Universe Today for 20 years as a writer and editor. She also contributed articles to The Planetary Society, Ad Astra (National Space Society), New Scientist and many other online outlets.

Her 2019 book, "Eight Years to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Missions,” shares the untold stories of engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make the Apollo program so successful, despite the daunting odds against it. Her first book “Incredible Stories From Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos” (2016) tells the stories of 37 scientists and engineers that work on several current NASA robotic missions to explore the solar system and beyond.

Nancy is also a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, and through this program, she has the opportunity to share her passion of space and astronomy with children and adults through presentations and programs. Nancy's personal website is nancyatkinson.com