Cassini Probe Sees Nile-Like River on Saturn Moon

[Eugene]

Source: Voice of America

Cassini Probe Sees Nile-Like River on Saturn Moon

VOA News
December 12, 2012

The international Cassini space probe, which has been orbiting Saturn and its moons since 2004, has sent detailed new images of a remarkable, Nile-like river valley on Saturn’s moon Titan. The river stretches more than 400 kilometers from its ‘headwaters’ and flows into a large sea.

It is the first time astronomers have seen a river system this large and in such high resolution anywhere beyond Earth, according to the European Space Agency.

Scientists believe the Titan river is filled with liquid because it appears in the high-resolution radar image to be dark along its entire length, indicating a smooth surface.

The river meanders at several points. But Jani Radebaugh, a Cassini radar team associate at Brigham Young University in the United States, believes the overall straightness of the river valley suggests it follows at least one major fault line, as do several other large rivers seen running into the same Titan sea.

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Read more: http://www.voanews.com/content/cassini-probe-sees-nile-like-river-on-saturn-moon/1563811.html

[Judi Lynn]

1. Scientists discover mini Nile river on Saturn's moon Titan

Scientists discover mini Nile river on Saturn's moon Titan
Press Trust of India | Updated: December 13, 2012 15:03 IST

Washington: NASA scientists have spotted the longest extra-terrestrial river system ever on Saturn's moon Titan and it appears to be a miniature version of Earth's Nile river.

The river valley on Titan stretches more than 400 kilometres from its "headwaters" to a large sea, a NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory statement said.

In comparison, the Nile river on Earth stretches about 6,700 kilometres.

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Images by NASA's Cassini mission have revealed for the first time a river system this vast and in such high resolution anywhere other than Earth.

Titan is known to have vast seas - the only other body in the solar system, apart from Earth, to possess a cycle of liquids on its surface.

More:
http://www.ndtv.com/article/world/304947

[Towlie]

2. But it's not water...

"However, the thick Titan atmosphere is a frigid one, meaning liquid water couldn't possibly flow. The liquids on Titan are therefore composed of hydrocarbons such as methane and ethane, Discovery News reported."