Crater Momoy on Titan

Filed under pretty pictures, radar imaging, Saturn's moons, Titan, Cassini, impact cratering

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Cassini discovered this, its eighth impact crater on Titan, on June 21, 2011. Now named Momoy, it is about 40 kilometers in diameter and is surrounded by a continuous blanket of ejecta (material thrown out from the crater) that appears bright to radar and extends roughly 15 to 20 kilometers beyond the rim.

NASA / JPL

With its well-preserved ejecta and steep inward-facing walls, the new crater resembles the two other freshest known craters on Titan: Sinlap, seen in the radar image of February 2005, and Ksa, seen in September 2006. One difference is that Sinlap and the new crater seem to have flat, largely featureless floors, but Ksa has a bright central peak.

Dunes, visible as dark lines on the left of the image, have been swept toward the crater by the winds of Titan.

This synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) image, centered at 12 degrees north latitude and 45 degrees west longitude, measures 242 kilometers by 257 kilometers wide.