[X] My Assistant

[volcanopele]

Much to my surprise, a chunk of the T16 Sar swath as been released:

http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA08630

An abundance of lakes can been seen. Some appear to be crater lakes (or sinkholes), like the lake at far left on the top cutout. That lake appears similar to Crater Lake in Oregon, with a little island in the middle (you can kinda see the attenuation of the signal surrounding the island as the methane gets deeper). Some lakes appear quite distinctive from the surrounding terrain, like the features on the right part of the bottom cutout.

[belleraphon1]

Agree here with Rob...

Close up monitoring of the seasonal changes is paramount. Will methane follow the dark..... evaporate in the sun and unleash brief methane monsoons at the lower latitudes until a new
equilibirum is reached at the southern pole as it retreats into a winter darkness...... ??????

This really speaks to an extended CASSINI mission as a precursor to future Titan missions.

Craig

[Bjorn Jonsson]

Now Titan is even more interesting than before, an extended mission even more important than before and as before, almost too many interesting targets to explore at Saturn. And probably at least 15-20 years until a new mission gets launched towards Saturn.

Will the northern lakes disappear and if so, when? Will lakes form near the south pole when it recedes into darkness and if so, when?

Hopefully Cassini lasts years beyond its primary mission, enabling it to observe seasonal changes (Titan and Saturn's blue northern hemisphere).

[JRehling]

Hopefully Cassini lasts years beyond its primary mission, enabling it to observe seasonal changes (Titan and Saturn's blue northern hemisphere).

If attitude control propellent is truly the life-limiting factor for Cassini, then the variable in our control is the number of pointing operations (under current operational norms, the number of flyby observations) per unit time. Even if Titan were the only object under consideration, the choices would be, at the extremes, dozens of flybys at the current rate, obtaining more RADAR (especially) and VIMS coverage, but only lasting a couple of years (going just past equinox) or a more languid rate of coverage, making few observations (perhaps many "blind" flybys with few or no observations), but lasting well into the next Titanian seasons. Obviously, flybys of the other satellites would subtract from the Titan observations.

These lakes might relegate Iapetus, aside from its late-primary-mission closeup, to "see you next mission" status. Enceladus will still hold its own as an extended mission candidate, but the other icy moons are looking forgettable in comparison.