Jingpo Lacus
Lake on Titan
73°N 336°W / 73°N 336°W / 73; -336Jingpo Lacus is a lake in the north polar region of Titan,[1] the planet Saturn's largest moon. It and similarly sized Ontario Lacus[2] are the largest known bodies of liquid on Titan after the three maria (Kraken Mare, Ligeia Mare, and Punga Mare).[3] It is composed of liquid hydrocarbons (mainly methane and ethane). It is west of Kraken Mare at 73° N, 336° W, roughly 240 km (150 mi) long,[1][note 1] similar to the length of Lake Onega on Earth. Its namesake is Jingpo Lake,[1] a lake in China.
Specular reflection
On 8 July 2009, Cassini's Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS) observed a specular reflection in 5 µm infrared light 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
-
Synthetic aperture radar image (top) overlaid onto a visible light/infrared image 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 reflection off Jingpo Lacus, observed by the Cassini probe on July 8, 2009
See also
Solar System portal
Notes
- ^ a b The USGS web site gives the size as a "diameter", but it is actually the length in the longest dimension.
References
- ^ a b c "Jingpo Lacus". Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. USGS Astrogeology Science Center. 2010-03-29. Feature ID 14655. Archived from the original on 2018-09-03. Retrieved 2012-03-17.
- ^ "Titan lacūs". Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. USGS Astrogeology Science Center. Retrieved 2012-03-17.
- ^ "Titan maria". Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. USGS Astrogeology Science Center. Archived from the original on 2019-06-21. Retrieved 2012-03-16.
- ^ Cook, Jia-Rui C. (2009-12-17). "Glint of Sunlight Confirms Liquid in Northern Lake District of Titan". NASA. Archived from the original on 2018-06-04. Retrieved 2009-12-18.
- ^ Lakdawalla, Emily (2009-12-17). "Cassini VIMS sees the long-awaited glint off a Titan lake". The Planetary Society. Archived from the original on 2019-08-21. Retrieved 2009-12-17.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jingpo Lacus.
- Map of the liquid bodies in the north polar region of Titan
- v
- t
- e
Titan
and seas
| Seas | |
|---|---|
| Lakes | |
| Rivers | |
| Dry lakes |
- Adiri
- Arrakis Planitia
- Dilmun
- Doom Mons
- Erebor Mons
- Ganesa Macula
- Guabonito
- Irensaga Montes
- Mayda Insula
- Menrva
- Mezzoramia
- Mindolluin Montes
- Misty Montes
- Mithrim Montes
- Perkunas Virgae
- Selk
- Shangri-La
- Shikoku Facula
- Sotra Patera
- Taniquetil Montes
- Tsegihi
- Tui Regio
- Xanadu
| Past | |
|---|---|
| Planned and proposed |
 | This article about an extraterrestrial geological feature is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
- v
- t
- e
