[extropy-chat] Huygens: First visitor to Titan

[Hal Finney]

There are some great images up at
http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Cassini-Huygens/ .  Oddly, the caption on
the second one reads, "This is one of the first raw images returned by
the ESA Huygens probe during its successful descent. It was taken from
an altitude of 16.2 kilometres with a resolution of approximately 40
metres per pixel. It apparently shows short, stubby drainage channels
leading to a shoreline."
http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Cassini-Huygens/SEMCXM71Y3E_0.html

I'd love it for Titan to have oceans, but I can't help noticing that
the "liquid" along this "shoreline" appears to have craters in it.
That's especially visible in the third picture, which is from a lower
altitude:
http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Cassini-Huygens/SEMIPO71Y3E_0.html

The first picture is taken from the ground, and unfortunately shows a
rocky plain that looks pretty much like Mars and Venus, not to mention
the deserts of Earth: a plain with rocks on it.
http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Cassini-Huygens/SEMBQO71Y3E_0.html

Compare with these Venus pictures:
http://www.mentallandscape.com/V_DigitalImages.htm

The raw images at http://www.lpl.arizona.edu/~kholso/data.htm are harder
to see because they haven't been processed, but it looks like there are a
few more which will look good once they've been fixed up.

Hal