The Surface of Titan (1 photo)

This composite image of Titan's surface was stitched together from images transmitted by the European Space Agency's (ESA) Huygens lander, which soft-landed on Saturn's largest moon on January 14, 2005.



The images, taken from altitudes of 17 to 8 kilometers, reveal a world eerily similar to Earth from a distance, yet utterly alien in chemistry and conditions.

The image reveals dark channels reminiscent of terrestrial rivers, carved by liquid hydrocarbons (primarily methane and ethane). At temperatures around -180°C, methane and ethane act as water here: they evaporate, condense into clouds, and then return to the surface as rain.

Huygens is the only spacecraft to have landed in the outer solar system. Data transmitted back to Earth confirmed scientists' predictions: Titan's surface is covered in organic "sand" and rock-hard water ice, and its atmosphere is saturated with complex hydrocarbons.