Jingpo Lacus
 Jingpo Lacus in a false-colorsynthetic aperture radarimage of Titan's north polar region. An extension ofKraken Mareenters the view at upper left. | |
| Feature type | Lacus |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 73°N336°W/ 73°N 336°W |
| Diameter | 240 km[note 1] |
| Eponym | Jingpo Lake |
Jingpo Lacusis alakein the north polar region ofTitan,[1]the planetSaturn's largest moon. It and similarly sizedOntario Lacus[2]are the largest known bodies of liquid on Titan after the three maria (Kraken Mare,Ligeia Mare,andPunga Mare).[3]It is composed of liquidhydrocarbons(mainlymethaneandethane). It is west of Kraken Mare at 73° N, 336° W, roughly 240 km (150 mi) long,[1][note 1]similar to the length ofLake OnegaonEarth.Its namesake isJingpo Lake,[1]a lake in China.
Specular reflection[edit]
On 8 July 2009,Cassini'sVisual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer(VIMS) observed aspecular reflectionin 5μminfraredlight off Jingpo Lacus at 71° N, 337° W. (This has sometimes been described less accurately as at the southern shoreline of Kraken Mare.[4]) Specular reflections indicate a smooth, mirror-like surface, so the observation corroborated the inference of the presence of a large liquid body drawn from radar imaging. The observation was made soon after the north polar region emerged from 15 years of winter darkness.[5]
Gallery[edit]
-
Synthetic aperture radar image (top) overlaid onto avisible light/infraredimage of Titan's north polar region, showing Jingpo Lacus (at center) and other liquid bodies (Kraken Mare at bottom, Ligeia Mare at right, and Punga Mare) outlined in blue. -
Specular reflectionoff Jingpo Lacus, observed by theCassiniprobe on July 8, 2009
See also[edit]
Notes[edit]
References[edit]
- ^abc"Jingpo Lacus".Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature.USGS Astrogeology Science Center.2010-03-29. Feature ID 14655.Archivedfrom the original on 2018-09-03.Retrieved2012-03-17.
- ^"Titan lacūs".Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature.USGS Astrogeology Science Center.Retrieved2012-03-17.
- ^"Titan maria".Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature.USGS Astrogeology Science Center.Archivedfrom the original on 2019-06-21.Retrieved2012-03-16.
- ^Cook, Jia-Rui C. (2009-12-17)."Glint of Sunlight Confirms Liquid in Northern Lake District of Titan".NASA.Archivedfrom the original on 2018-06-04.Retrieved2009-12-18.
- ^Lakdawalla, Emily(2009-12-17)."Cassini VIMS sees the long-awaited glint off a Titan lake".The Planetary Society.Archivedfrom the original on 2019-08-21.Retrieved2009-12-17.
External links[edit]
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