The Surface of Titan

If sailing the hydrocarbon seas of Titan , beware of gasoline rain. Such might be a travel advisory issued one future day for adventurers visiting Titan , the largest moon of Saturn . New images of Titan 's surface were released last week from the Canada-France Hawaii Telescope featuring the finest details yet resolved. Peering into Titan 's thick smog atmosphere with infrared light, complex features interpreted as oceans, glaciers , and rock became visible. The high-resolution infrared image pictured above was made possible using an unblurring technique called adaptive optics . The interplanetary probe Cassini will reach Saturn and Titan in 2004 to better explore this unusual world.