

Titan Seas Reflect Sunlight - otoolep
http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap150202.html

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cma
Tangent: I was just watching the new Cosmos and it pointed out ice was the
most reflective surface on earth and water the least. But sea ice is near the
poles, where the sun's angle of incidence is shallow and water presumably
becomes more reflective--how close is the sea's albedo to snow and ice at the
poles on average (different seasons have different angles of incidence, waves
probably have an effect, the sun isn't always shining directly but sometimes
comes through (or reflects off the water back onto) clouds, etc.).

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ChuckMcM
I am curious if you could use multiple exposures to identify waves on the
surface.

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danielsju6
They did indeed detect what they believe to be waves from the sun-glint, from
what I recall.

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dalke
[http://www.space.com/25186-cassini-spies-titan-
waves.html](http://www.space.com/25186-cassini-spies-titan-waves.html) \- "New
observations from NASA’s Saturn-orbiting Cassini spacecraft show what appear
to be glints of sunlight bouncing off a wind-rippled lake on the moon Titan."
but cautions there may be other explanations.

[http://news.sciencemag.org/space/2014/12/spacecraft-spots-
pr...](http://news.sciencemag.org/space/2014/12/spacecraft-spots-probable-
waves-titan-s-seas) \- "Near the moon’s north pole, there is growing evidence
for waves on three different seas, ... In a handful of flybys of Titan in the
past 6 months, Cassini scientists have seen signs of waves on three different
seas: Kraken Mare, Ligeia Mare, and Punga Mare. ... Scientists involved in the
discoveries have been cautious, saying that the features could also be
floating debris or bubbles. At Kraken Mare, however, Cassini researchers
detected a wavelike feature with both the spacecraft’s radar and a mapping
spectrometer. That double detection gives Alexander Hayes, a planetary
scientist at Cornell, extra confidence."

