The image above reveals sharp boundaries between dark and light regions on the surface of Saturn’s moon Titan. The photo, taken by the Cassini spacecraft on Oct. 25, 2004 from about half a million miles away, has been processed to reduce the blurring effect of atmospheric haze and sharpen the edges of features.
The bright area on the center right is Xanadu, a region that has been observed previously from Earth and by Cassini. To the west of Xanadu lies an area of dark material that completely surrounds brighter features in some places. Narrow linear features, both dark and bright, can also be seen. It is not clear what geologic processes created these features, although it seems clear that the surface is being shaped by more than impact craters alone. The very bright features near Titan’s south pole are clouds similar to those observed during the distant Cassini flyby on July 2, 2004.Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute View More Cassini ImagesView Cassini Main Page