Tantalizing Clues in Pictures of Saturn's Moons

Aziabel writes "Titan and Dione, two of the moons orbiting Saturn, apparently aren't exactly what researchers had previously believed. Photographs taken during a flyby of the Cassini space probe this week may clarify and even overturn long-held assumptions about the surfaces of these satellites. Bright streaks on the surface of Dione, a heavily cratered moon with little atmosphere, have long been believed to be ice, noted Carolyn Porco, imaging team leader for the Cassini project from the Space Science Institute in Boulder. Images captured this week, however, appear to indicate that the bright streaks are cliffs. They may have been created by ice, but not a lot of ice remains in the area. Meanwhile, the 'ocean' on Titan may not be. Instead of a liquid body of water, the dark mass seen on the surface of the Titan may be a viscous fluid flowing onto the white 'coastline,' Parco said. Then again, the viscous fluid could be flowing down from a higher altitude, like a glacier, onto the white mass. Right now, researchers only have two-dimensional images. Stronger conclusions may be possible with the availability later of images that are more precise, or stereoscopic images that include shadows or information on altitude."

Comments

Well DUH!

[Alsee]

two of the moons orbiting Saturn, apparently aren't exactly what researchers had previously believed.

That's not a moon, that's a space station!
Errr, and the other one too!

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Re:Point of order #2

[ComputerInsultant]

Now here is a new tactic for supporting space exploration. Announce that there are liquid hydrocarbons --- OIL --- on the surface of Titan. In no time the nations and corporations of the world will be racing to make sure that they have the rights to develop Titan's oil industry. Soon we will have regular tanker shipments from Titan.