Wednesday, July 6, 2022

Ligeia Mare Is Second Largest Body of Liquid on Titan


Summary: Ligeia Mare is the second largest body of liquid on Titan and is 50 percent larger than Lake Superior, Earth's largest-sized freshwater lake.


Ligeia Mare's size is 50 percent larger than that of Lake Superior, the largest of North America's five Great Lakes and Earth's largest freshwater body by surface area; image of Ligeia Mare obtained via near-polar flyby of Feb. 22, 2007; image of Lake Superior via NASA Goddard Space Flight Center's (GSFC) Sea-Viewing Wide Field-of-View Sensor (SeaWiFS) project; image addition date 2007-03-13: image credit NASA/JPL-Caltech/GSFC, no known copyright restrictions, via NASA JPL Photojournal

Ligeia Mare is the second largest body of liquid on Titan, with a surface area that is 50 percent larger than that of Lake Superior, Earth's largest freshwater lake by surface area.
Ligeia Mare (Latin: "sea") is centered at 79.7 degrees north latitude, 247.9 degrees west longitude, according to the International Astronomical Union's (IAU) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. It obtains northernmost and southernmost latitudes of 82 degrees north and 74 degrees north, respectively. Its easternmost and westernmost longitudes occur at 222 degrees west and 276.7 degrees west, respectively. Ligeia Mare's diameter measures 500 kilometers.
Ligeia Mare's longitudinal boundaries place it mostly on Titan's anti-Saturn side. Approximately half a dozen degrees of its westernmost longitudes wrap around Titan's trailing limb for occupancy on the Saturnian moon's Saturn-facing side. Titan's equal-lengthed orbital and rotational periods explain its same-sided orientation with respect to its parent body.
Its southernmost and northernmost extents keep Ligeia Mare within north polar latitudes. Its northernmost reach, at 82 degrees north, extends to eight degrees south of Titan's north pole.
As a high polar latitude occupant, Ginaz Labyrinthus intervenes between northwestern Ligeia Mare and the north pole. Labyrinthus (plural: labyrinthi; Latin borrowing from Ancient Greek λᾰβῠ́ρῐνθος, labúrinthos, “maze”) designates a "Complex of intersecting valleys or ridges," according to the Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature's documentation page, Descriptor Terms (Feature Types).
Ginaz Labyrinthus is centered at 83 degrees north latitude, 261.7 degrees west longitude. It marks its northernmost and southernmost latitudes at 84.9 degrees north and 81.7 degrees north, respectively. It posts easternmost and westernmost longitudes of 249 degrees west and 280.2 degrees west, respectively. Ginaz Labyrinthus has a length of 160 kilometers.
Ginaz Labyrinthus trends northwest-southeast. Its southern edge associates with Ligeia Mare. Its northern terminus verges toward Punga Mare, the third of Titan's three maria (Latin: plural, "seas").
All three of Titan's maria are located in the north polar region. Ligeia Mare lies to the east-northeast of Kraken Mare and to the east-southeast of Punga Mare. Their placements with respect to the north pole are described as "just below and to the right" for Kraken Mare, "to the left and above" for "nearly heart-shaped Ligeia Mare and "just below" for Punga Mare, according to NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory's (JPL) Photojournal post, "Titan's North," published Dec. 12, 2013.
Kraken Mare is centered at 68 degrees north latitude, 310 degrees west longitude. Its northernmost and southernmost latitudes reach 81 degrees north and 55 degrees north, respectively. Its easternmost and westernmost longitudes touch 274 degrees west and 335 degrees west, respectively. Kraken Mare's diameter spans 1,170 kilometers.
Punga Mare is centered at 85.1 degrees north latitude, 339.7 degrees west longitude. It records northernmost and southernmost latitudes of 89 degrees north and 82.2 degrees north, respectively. It registers easternmost and westernmost longitudes of 72 degrees west and 287 degrees west, respectively. Punga Mare has a diameter of 380 kilometers.
A size ranking of Titan's three maria finds Ligeia Mare, with its 500 kilometer-diameter, as the second largest body of liquid on Titan. Kraken Mare's diameter of 1,170 kilometers secures its placement as the largest of Titan's three maria. Punga Mare finishes in third place, with its 380 kilometer-diameter, as Titan's smallest sea.
Ligeia Mare's surface area of approximately 50,000 square miles (130,000 square kilometers) exceeds that of Earth's Lake Superior by 50 percent, according to Photojournal's March 2, 2016, post, "Mystery Feature Evolves in Titan's Ligeia Mare." Lake Superior qualifies as Earth's largest freshwater body by surface area. The largest and northernmost of North America's five Great Lakes has a surface area of 31,700 square miles (82,097 square kilometers), according to "About Our Great Lakes: Lake by Lake Profiles," posted by the NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory (GLERL) website.
The saline Caspian Sea qualifies as Earth's largest inland body of water in a ranking that considers both saline and freshwater bodies. Kraken Mare's immensity of about 150,000 square miles (400,000 square kilometers) exceeds the Caspian Sea's coverage of approximately 143,200 square miles (371,000 square kilometers).
Ligeia Mare's size also is compared with two other Great Lakes. Its surface area approximates the combined sizes of Earth's Lake Huron and Lake Michigan, according to Preston Dyches and Jia-Rui C. Cook's news feature, "Cassini Explores a Methane Sea on Titan," published April 26, 2016, on the NASA JPL website. Lake Huron, the second largest Great Lake and Earth's third largest freshwater body, 23,000 square miles (59,565 square kilometers). Lake Michigan, the third largest Great Lake and Earth's four largest freshwater body, covers 22,300 square miles (57,753 square kilometers).
The International Astronomical Union (IAU) approved Ligeia as the sea's official name on April 11, 2008. The Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature explains the name's origin as: "One of the sirens in Greek mythology." Literary or mythic sea monsters inspire the names of Titan's maria, according to the Gazetteer's page on "Categories (Themes) for Naming Features on Planets and Satellites."

False-color mosaic of synthetic aperture radar images obtained by the Cassini spacecraft between February 2006 and April 2007 shows Ligeia Mare as nearly heart-shaped body of liquid in Titan's north polar region; image addition date 2013-05-22: image credit NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASI/Cornell, no known copyright restrictions, via NASA JPL Photojournal

Acknowledgment
My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:
Ligeia Mare's size is 50 percent larger than that of Lake Superior, the largest of North America's five Great Lakes and Earth's largest freshwater body by surface area; image of Ligeia Mare obtained via near-polar flyby of Feb. 22, 2007; image of Lake Superior via NASA Goddard Space Flight Center's (GSFC) Sea-Viewing Wide Field-of-View Sensor (SeaWiFS) project; image addition date 2007-03-13: image credit NASA/JPL-Caltech/GSFC, no known copyright restrictions, via NASA JPL Photojournal @ https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA09184
False-color mosaic of synthetic aperture radar images obtained by the Cassini spacecraft between February 2006 and April 2007 shows Ligeia Mare as nearly heart-shaped body of liquid in Titan's north polar region; image addition date 2013-05-22: image credit NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASI/Cornell, no known copyright restrictions, via NASA JPL Photojournal @ https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA17031

For further information:
Barnett, Amanda. "Titan Polar Maps --2015." NASA Science Solar System Exploration > Resources. Oct. 9, 2015.
Available @ https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/resources/16251/titan-polar-maps-2015/
Brown, Dwayne; and Jia-Rui C. Cook. "NASA's Cassini Spacecraft Reveals Clues About Saturn Moon." NASA > News & Features > News Releases > News Release Archive: 1990-2020 > 2013 News Releases: June 30-Dec. 31. Release 13-370. Dec. 12, 2013.
Available @ https://www.nasa.gov/press/2013/december/nasas-cassini-spacecraft-reveals-clues-about-saturn-moon/#.YTu6xyUpCPQ
Cornell University. "Saturn's Moon Titan: Largest Sea Is 1,000-Feet Deep." ScienceDaily. Jan. 21, 2021.
Available @ https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/01/210121131921.htm
Dyches, Preston; and Markus Bauer. "Cassini Explores a Methane Sea on Titan." NASA JPL > News > Solar System. April 26, 2016.
Available @ https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/cassini-explores-a-methane-sea-on-titan
Friedlander, Blaine. "Astronomers Estimate Titan’s Largest Sea is 1,000 Feet Deep." Cornell Chronicle. Jan. 20, 2021.
Available @ https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2021/01/astronomers-estimate-titans-largest-sea-1000-feet-deep
Greicius, Tony, ed. "Mystery Feature Evolves in Titan's Ligeia Mare." NASA > Image Galleries > Space Images From NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. March 2, 2016. Last updated Aug. 7, 2017.
Available @ https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/jpl/pia20021/mystery-feature-evolves-in-titans-ligeia-mare
Hayes, Alexander G.; Ralph D. Lorenz; and Jonathan I. Lunine. "A Post-Cassini View of Titan’s Methane-Based Hydrologic Cycle." Nature Geoscience, vol. 11, issue 5 (May 2018): 306-313.
Available @ https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-018-0103-y
Heslar, Michael F.; Jason W. Barnes; Jason M. Soderblom; Benoît Seignovert; Rajani D. Dhingra; and Christophe Sotin. "Tidal Currents Detected in Kraken Mare Straits From Cassini VIMS Sun Glitter Observations." The Planetary Science Journal, vol. 1, no. 2 (September 2020): 35. DOI:10.3847/PSJ/aba191.
Available via IOPScience @ https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/PSJ/aba191/
Available via ResearchGate @ https://www.researchgate.net/publication/343661627_Tidal_Currents_Detected_in_Kraken_Mare_Straits_from_Cassini_VIMS_Sun_Glitter_Observations
International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. “Categories (Themes) for Naming Features on Planets and Satellites.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Documentation > Surface Feature Categories.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Page/Categories
International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. “Coordinate Systems for Planets and Satellites.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Documentation > Target Coordinate Systems.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/TargetCoordinates
International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. “Descriptor Terms (Feature Types).” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Documentation > Descriptor Terms.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/DescriptorTerms
International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. “Target: Titan.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Nomenclature > Saturn.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Page/TITAN/target
International Astronomical Union (IAU) Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN). “Ginaz Labyrinthus.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. Last updated March 2, 2017.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/15546
International Astronomical Union (IAU) Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN). “Kraken Mare.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. Last updated April 11, 2008.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/14399
International Astronomical Union (IAU) Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN). “Ligeia Mare.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. Last updated Jan. 29, 2013.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/14400
International Astronomical Union (IAU) Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN). “Punga Mare.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. Last updated Dec. 1, 2010.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/14505
Jet Propulsion Laboratory. "PIA09184: Titan Sea and Lake Superior." NASA JPL Photojournal. Image addition date 2007-03-13.
Available @ https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA09184
Jet Propulsion Laboratory. "PIA17031: Vast Ligeia Mare in False Color." NASA JPL Photojournal. Image addition date 2013-05-22.
Available @ https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA17031
Jet Propulsion Laboratory. "PIA17655: Titan's North." NASA JPL Photojournal. Image addition date 2013-12-12.
Available @ https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA17655
Jet Propulsion Laboratory. "PIA17656: Flying Over an Extraterrestrial Land of Lakes." NASA JPL Photojournal. Image addition date 2013-12-12.
Available @ https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA17656
Jet Propulsion Laboratory. "PIA18430: Mysterious Changing Feature in Ligeia Mare." NASA JPL Photojournal. Image addition date 2014-09-29.
Available @ https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA18430
Jet Propulsion Laboratory. "PIA18432: Specular Spectacular." NASA JPL Photojournal. Image addition date 2014-10-30.
Available @ https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA18432
Jet Propulsion Laboratory. "PIA19657: Titan Polar Maps -- 2015." NASA JPL Photojournal. Image addition date 2015-10-09.
Available @ https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19657
Jet Propulsion Laboratory. "PIA20021: Mystery Feature Evolves in Titan's Ligeia Mare." NASA JPL Photojournal. Image addition date 2016-03-02.
Available @ https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA20021
Jet Propulsion Laboratory. "PIA21434: Titan: Kraken and Ligeia In Sharper Focus." NASA JPL Photojournal. Image addition date 2017-03-15.
Available @ https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA21434
Jet Propulsion Laboratory. "PIA21923: Seeing Titan with Infrared Eyes." NASA JPL Photojournal. Image addition date 2018-07-18.
Available @ https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA21923
Jet Propulsion Laboratory. "PIA22481: Titan Lakes." NASA JPL Photojournal. Image addition date 2018-09-13.
Available @ https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA22481
Le Gall, Alice; M. J. Malaska; R. D. (Ralph D.) Lorenz; M. A. Janssen; T. Tokano; A. G. Hayes; M. Mastrogiuseppe; J. I. Lunine; G. Veyssière; P. Encrenaz; and O. Karatekin. "Composition, Seasonal Change and Bathymetry of Ligeia Mare, Titan, Derived From its Microwave Thermal Emission." Journal of Geophysical Research JGR Planets, vol. 121, issue 2 (February 2016): 233-251. doi:10.1002/2015JE004920. hal-01259869.
Available @ https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01259869/document
Available via Wiley Online Library @ https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/2015JE004920
Lopes, R.M.C.; M.J. Malaska; A. M. Schoenfeld; A. Solomonidou; S.P.D. Birch; M. Florence; A.G. (Alexander Gerard) Hayes; D.A. Williams; J. Radebaugh; T. Verlander; E. (Elizabeth) P. Turtle; A. (Alice) Le Gall; and S. Wall. "A Global Geomorphologic Map of Saturn's Moon Titan." Nature Astronomy, vol. 4, issue 3 (March 2020): 228-233.
Available via NIH (National Institutes of Health) NLM (U.S. National Library of Medicine) NCBI (National Center for Biotechnology Information) @ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7271969/
Available via Springer Nature Limited @ https://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-019-0917-6
Lorenz, Ralph D. "The Challenging Depths of Titan's Seas." Journal of Geophysical Research JGR Planets, vol. 126, issue 4 (April 2021): e2020JE006786. doi:10.1029/2020JE006786
Available via Wiley Online Library @ https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2020JE006786
Lorenz, Ralph D. "The Flushing of Ligeia: Composition Variations Across Titan's Seas in a Simple Hydrological Model." Journal of Geophysical Research JGR Planets, vol. 41, issue 16 (Aug. 28, 2014): 5764-5770. doi:10.1002/2014GL061133.
Available @ https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/2014GL061133
Marriner, Derdriu. "All Three of Titan's Hydrocarbon Seas Occur in the North Polar Region." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, June 22, 2022.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/06/all-three-of-titans-hydrocarbon-seas.html
Marriner, Derdriu. "Christiaan Huygens Discovered Saturnian Satellite Titan March 25, 1655." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, March 21, 2012.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2012/03/christiaan-huygens-discovered-saturnian.html
Marriner, Derdriu. "Jingpo Lacus Glints During Cassini Orbiter’s Titan Flyby July 8, 2009." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, June 26, 2013.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/06/jingpo-lacus-glints-during-cassini.html
Marriner, Derdriu. "Kraken Mare Is Largest and Deepest Body of Liquid on Titan." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, June 29, 2022.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2021/09/kraken-mare-is-largest-and-deepest-body.html
Marriner, Derdriu. "Visible and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer VIMS Shows Titanean Surface." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, March 29, 2012.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2012/03/visible-and-infrared-mapping.html
NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory. "About Our Great Lakes: Lake by Lake Profiles." NOAA GLERL > Education.
Available @ https://www.glerl.noaa.gov/education/ourlakes/lakes.html
Plait, Phil. "Sailing the Lakes of Titan? Prepare for Rough Seas." SyFy.com > SyFy Wire > Bad Astronomy. Last updated Jan. 25, 2021.
Available @ https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/sailing-the-lakes-of-titan-prepare-for-rough-seas
Poggiali, V.; A. G. Hayes; M. Mastrogiuseppe; A. (Alice) Le Gall; D. Lalich; I. Gómez-Leal; and J. I. Lunine. "The Bathymetry of Moray Sinus at Titan's Kraken Mare." Journal of Geophysical Research JGR Planets, vol. 125, issue 12 (December 2020): e2020JE006558. doi:10.1029/2020JE006558.
Available via Wiley Online Library @ https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2020JE006558
Porco, Carolyn C.; Emily Baker; John Barbara; Kevin Beurle; Andre Brahic; Joseph A. Burns; Sebastien Charnoz; Nick Cooper; Douglas D. Dawson; Anthony D. Del Genio; Tilmann Denk; Luke Dones; Ulyana Dyudina; Michael W. Evans; Stephanie Fussner; Bernd Giese; Kevin Grazier; Paul Helfenstein; Andrew P. Ingersoll; Robert A. Jacobson; Torrence V. Johnson; Alfred McEwen; Carl D. Murray; Gerhard Neukum; William M. Owen; Jason Perry; Thomas Roatsch; Joseph Spitale; Steven Squyres; Peter Thomas; Matthew Tiscareno; Elizabeth P. Turtle; Ashwin R. Vasavada; Joseph Veverka; Roland Wagner; and Robert West. "Imaging of Titan From the Cassini Spacecraft." Nature, vol. 434, no. 7030 (March 10, 2005): 159-168. DOI: 10.1038/nature03436.
Available via ResearchGate @ https://www.researchgate.net/publication/7975388_Imaging_of_Titan_from_the_Cassini_spacecraft
Stiles, Bryan. Cassini Radar Basic Image Data Records SIS Version 1.4. D-27889. Pasadena CA: NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Sep. 27, 2005.
Available @ https://pds-imaging.jpl.nasa.gov/data/cassini/cassini_orbiter/CORADR_0051/DOCUMENT/BIDRSIS.HTML
Stofan, E.R. (Ellen Renee); J.I. Lunine; R.D. (Ralph D.) Lorenz; R.L. Kirk; O. Aharonson; A.G.Hayes; A. Lucas; E.P. (Elizabeth P.) Turtle; S.D. Wall; C.A. Wood; and the Cassini Radar Team. "Shorelines of Ligeia Mare, Titan." Forty-Third Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, March 19–23, 2012, The Woodlands, Woodlands, Texas.
Available @ https://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2012/pdf/1556.pdf
Szalay, Jessie. "Caspian Sea: Largest Inland Body of Water." Live Science > References. Feb. 24, 2017.
Available @ https://www.livescience.com/57999-caspian-sea-facts.html


No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.