Titan's Largest Lake Rivals Earth's Caspian Sea
David Shiga
At -180° Celsius, Titan's surface is far too cold for liquid water. Instead, liquid methane, perhaps with some liquid ethane mixed in, is thought to fill the moon's apparent lakes.
The new image was obtained using Cassini's Imaging Science Subsystem (ISS), which is comprised of two cameras that can see in ultraviolet, visible and infrared light.
The instrument has previously spotted a small, kidney-shaped feature that is considered a likely lake (see Titan may boast methane lakes after all).
Cassini's radar has also revealed dozens of lake-like features (see Titan may be a land of lakes after all).
And new radar images obtained during Cassini's latest Titan flyby on 22 February have revealed yet more lakes, including one with a large island in its centre (see image below right). The island is 150 by 90 kilometres, about the size of the Big Island of Hawaii.
Cassini: Mission to Saturn - Learn more in our continually updated special report.