spacetoday.net: Cassini sees Titan crater

Cassini sees Titan crater

Posted: Fri, Feb 18, 2005, 7:34 AM ET (1234 GMT)
Cassini radar image of Titan crater (NASA/JPL)

NASA's Cassini spacecraft has spotted a crater the size of the state of Iowa on the surface of Saturn's moon Titan, scientists said this week. The crater, about 440 kilometers across, was seen by Cassini's radar when the spacecraft flew past the moon on Tuesday. The impact crater is one of the few seen on Titan's surface during the three close flybys of the moon performed by Cassini to date. A smaller crater, about 70 kilometers in diameter, was also seen during the flyby. Radar images also detected more of the mysterious dark linear features seen on Titan's surface during previous flybys. Scientists speculate that the "scratches" could be caused by a number of phenomena, ranging from wind or moving liquids to geological activity.