Titan's topography, strange.... |
Titan's topography, strange.... |
Apr 12 2009, 12:44 PM
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#1
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Senior Member Group: Moderator Posts: 2785 Joined: 10-November 06 From: Pasadena, CA Member No.: 1345 |
Recent article in Science by Zebker et al.:
Zebker et al. Science in press, "Size and Shape of Saturn's Moon Titan". doi: 10.1126/science.1168905 (published online April 2, 2009) Link to abstract (pay-for article): http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/1168905 Article on spaceref discusses this paper: http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=27912 Figure 3 from the Science article is a global elevation map relative to barycenter. Key points of article:
"Xanadu seems to be systematically lower than other parts of the equatorial belt, and not uplifted like most mountainous areas on Earth." (quote from Fig. 3 caption in article) -Mike -------------------- Some higher resolution images available at my photostream: http://www.flickr.com/photos/31678681@N07/
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Apr 13 2009, 01:45 AM
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#2
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Senior Member Group: Moderator Posts: 2785 Joined: 10-November 06 From: Pasadena, CA Member No.: 1345 |
Nigel's right, the most recent evidence comes from a Janssen article on dielectric constant (discussed here: Titan's Mid Latitudes thread, post 6). The dielectric constant in some parts of Xanadu was waaay too low to be of any normal materials, even very low dielectric organics.
Dielectric constant is modified by fluffiness (pores). Volume scattering can make the material appear to have a much lower dielectric constant. It was postulated that volume scattering was responsible for the apparent low dielectric constant. -------------------- Some higher resolution images available at my photostream: http://www.flickr.com/photos/31678681@N07/
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