Why is there so little evidence of impact craters in the images?
So far, photographs of Titan’s surface show few bowl-shaped features indicative of craters, like those seen in photos of Venus, Mars or our own moon. Does this mean that Titan is fairly young and has yet to be hit by many asteroids and comets? Or, does it mean that the surface is so dynamic that impact craters are quickly filled in with liquid or dust? Do the dark areas in the radar images of Titan’s surface signify the existence of lakes? When radar waves are used to create images of surfaces, areas that reflect more radio waves turn up as bright spots, while those that reflect fewer waves appear as dark spots. Some scientists believe the large, dark patches in the Titan images could be lakes full of liquid ethane and propane, which would absorb radio waves. But if this is true, do the lakes have ripples and waves caused by the wind, or are they completely still? Why aren’t methane clouds abundant in the atmosphere? Until Tuesday, scientists believed the bright clouds at Titan’s south
