Punga Mare
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Punga Mare | |
|---|---|
 Punga Mare from a false-color mosaic of synthetic aperture radar images of Titan's north polar region (image shows about 60% of its total surface). A northern extension of Kraken Mare enters the view at lower left. | |
| Feature type | Mare |
| Coordinates | 85°N 340°W / 85°N 340°WCoordinates: 85°N 340°W / 85°N 340°W |
| Diameter | 380 km[note 1] |
| Eponym | Punga |
Punga Mare /ˈpʌŋə/[citation needed] is a lake in the north polar region of Titan, the planet Saturn's largest moon. After Kraken Mare and Ligeia Mare, it is the third largest known body of liquid on Titan.[1] It is composed of liquid hydrocarbons (mainly methane and ethane). Located almost adjacent to the north pole at 85.1° N, 339.7° W, it measures roughly 380 km (236 mi) across,[1][note 1] greater than the length of Lake Victoria on Earth. Its namesake is Punga, in Māori mythology ancestor of sharks, rays and lizards and a son of Tangaroa, the god of the sea.[1]
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 The USGS web site gives the size as a "diameter", but it is actually the length in the longest dimension.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Titan maria". Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. USGS Astrogeology Science Center. Retrieved 2012-03-16.
External links
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike; additional terms may apply for the media files.