Xanadu (often called "Xanadu Region", though this is not its official name) is a highly reflective area on the leading hemisphere of Saturn's moon Titan. Its name comes from an alternate transcription of

Shangdu Shangdu (, ), also known as Xanadu (; Mongolian: ''Šandu''), was the summer capital of the Yuan dynasty of China before Kublai decided to move his throne to the former Jin dynasty capital of Zhōngdū () which was renamed Khanbaliq ( pre ...

, the summer capital of the Yuan dynasty established by Kublai Khan and made famous by

Samuel Taylor Coleridge Samuel Taylor Coleridge (; 21 October 177225 July 1834) was an English poet, literary critic, philosopher, and theologian who, with his friend William Wordsworth, was a founder of the Romantic Movement in England and a member of the Lake ...

. The feature was first identified in 1994 by astronomers using the

Hubble Space Telescope The Hubble Space Telescope (often referred to as HST or Hubble) is a space telescope that was launched into low Earth orbit in 1990 and remains in operation. It was not the first space telescope, but it is one of the largest and most vers ...

infrared Infrared (IR), sometimes called infrared light, is electromagnetic radiation (EMR) with wavelengths longer than those of visible light. It is therefore invisible to the human eye. IR is generally understood to encompass wavelengths from around ...

wavelengths, and has recently been imaged in more detail by the Cassini space probe. Xanadu is about the size of Australia. Preliminary observations indicate that Xanadu is a plateau-like region of highly reflective water ice, contrasting somewhat with the darker lower regions. These in turn seem to contrast quite sharply with the very dark

maria Maria may refer to: People * Mary, mother of Jesus * Maria (given name), a popular given name in many languages Place names Extraterrestrial * 170 Maria, a Main belt S-type asteroid discovered in 1877 * Lunar maria (plural of ''mare''), large, ...

, which were once believed to be seas of liquid

hydrocarbon In organic chemistry, a hydrocarbon is an organic compound consisting entirely of hydrogen and carbon. Hydrocarbons are examples of group 14 hydrides. Hydrocarbons are generally colourless and hydrophobic, and their odors are usually weak or ...

s, but are now thought to be

plain In geography, a plain is a flat expanse of land that generally does not change much in elevation, and is primarily treeless. Plains occur as lowlands along valleys or at the base of mountains, as coastal plains, and as plateaus or uplands ...

s. Recent images by Cassini during encounters in October and December 2004 reveal complex albedo patterns in the western portion of Xanadu. While scientists are still debating the significance and cause of the albedo patterns, one likely culprit is

tectonism Tectonics (; ) are the processes that control the structure and properties of the Earth's crust and its evolution through time. These include the processes of mountain building, the growth and behavior of the strong, old cores of continents ...

. Evidence for this exists in a pattern of criss-crossing dark lineaments near the western side of Xanadu. Scientists are also investigating the boundary between Xanadu and

Shangri-La Shangri-La is a fictional place in Asia's Kunlun Mountains (昆仑山), Uses the spelling 'Kuen-Lun'. described in the 1933 novel '' Lost Horizon'' by English author James Hilton. Hilton portrays Shangri-La as a mystical, harmonious valley, ...

, a dark region to the west. The shape of the boundary suggests that the dark material embays the bright terrain. Radar images taken by Cassini have revealed dunes, hills, rivers and valleys present on Xanadu. The features are likely carved in water ice by liquid

methane Methane ( , ) is a chemical compound with the chemical formula (one carbon atom bonded to four hydrogen atoms). It is a group-14 hydride, the simplest alkane, and the main constituent of natural gas. The relative abundance of methane on Ea ...

ethane Ethane ( , ) is an organic chemical compound with chemical formula . At standard temperature and pressure, ethane is a colorless, odorless gas. Like many hydrocarbons, ethane is isolated on an industrial scale from natural gas and as a petroc ...

. Water ice behaves similarly to rock at the pressures and temperatures present on Titan's surface.

References

External links

Map of Titan with Xanadu and Huygens landing site visible
from the Cassini–Huygens mission homepage *

Cassini finds land on Titan
Lucy Sherriff (

The Register ''The Register'' is a British technology news website co-founded in 1994 by Mike Magee, John Lettice and Ross Alderson. The online newspaper's masthead sublogo is "''Biting the hand that feeds IT''." Their primary focus is information te ...

) Thursday 20 July 2006 13:36 GMT {{Titan Surface features of Titan (moon)

See also

References

External links