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This story is from the category Libraries and Components
Date posted: 25/03/2009 The new flyover maps show, for the first time, the 3-D topography and height of the 1,200-meter (4,000-foot) mountain tops, the north polar lake country, the vast dunes more than 100 meters (300 feet) high that crisscross the moon, and the thick flows that may have oozed from possible ice volcanoes. The topographic maps were made from stereo pairs of radar images. They are available at: http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov . Cassini radar team member Randy Kirk with the Astrogeology Science Center at the U.S. Geological Survey in Flagstaff, Ariz., created the maps. He used some of the 20 or so areas where two or more overlapping radar measurements were obtained during 19 Titan flybys. These stereo overlaps cover close to two percent of Titan's surface. The process of making topographic maps from them is just beginning, but the results already reveal some of the diversity of Titan's geologic features. "These flyovers let you take in the bird's-eye sweeping views of Titan, the next best thing to being there," said Kirk. "We've mapped many kinds of features, and some of them remind me of Earth. Big seas, small lakes, rivers, dry river channels, mountains and sand dunes with hills poking out of them, lava flows." High and low features are shown in unprecedented detail at about 2.4-kilometer (1.5-mile) resolution. The maps show some features that may be volcanic flows. These flows meander across a shallow basin in the mountains. One area suspected to be an ice volcano, Ganesa Macula, does not appear to be a volcanic dome. It may still have originated as a volcano, but it's too soon to know for sure. "It could be a volcanic feature, a crater, or something else that has just been heavily eroded," added Kirk. See the full Story via external site: www.physorg.com Most recent stories in this category (Libraries and Components): 17/02/2015: New algorithms Geolocate a video from its images and sounds |
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