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Nature 442, 362-363 (27 July 2006) | doi:10.1038/442362a; Published online 26 July 2006

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Planetary science: Titan's exotic weather

Caitlin A. Griffith1

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Titan is viewed as a sibling of Earth, as both bodies have rainy weather systems and landscapes formed by rivers. But as we study these similarities, Titan emerges as an intriguingly foreign world.

Images of Saturn's largest moon Titan, taken during the joint NASA/European Space Agency Cassini–Huygens mission, invoke a sense of familiarity: river channels meander downhill to damp lake-beds, where icy, rounded stones, resembling river cobbles, litter the ground1, 2; massive cumulus clouds form and quickly dissipate, suggestive of rain3, 4, 5; and dark oval regions resemble lakes (Fig. 1).

  1. Caitlin A. Griffith is in the Department of Planetary Sciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721, USA.
    Email: griffith@lpl.arizona.edu

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