Large Lake Surrounds an Island on Titan

By Fraser Cain - March 1, 2007 at 4:32 PM UTC | Planetary Science

NASA's Cassini spacecraft has been turning up new images of features that look like lakes on the surface of Saturn's moon Titan. This latest image shows a large lake that appears to be surrounding an island.

This radar image was captured during Cassini's most recent Titan flyby on February 22, 2007. The island is about 90 kilometers (62 miles) by 150 kilometers (93 miles) across, which is the same size as the Big Island of Hawaii.

Unlike the familar lakes here on Earth, this lake is likely filled with liquid hydrocarbons. You wouldn't want to go swimming there.

NASA/JPL/SSI News Release

Fraser Cain

Fraser Cain

Fraser Cain is the publisher of Universe Today, founding the website in March 1999. He's also the co-host of Astronomy Cast.