This is one of the first raw images returned by the European Space Agency's Huygens probe during its successful descent to Titan. It was taken from an altitude of 16.2 kilometers (about 10 miles) with a resolution of approximately 40 meters (about 131 feet) per pixel. It apparently shows short, stubby drainage channels leading to a shoreline.
Wow. They said shoreline. There are more great pictures at the NASA site and the ESA site.
The theory that Titan has had liquid seas has always really intrigued me. I guess that liquid of some sort seems like a prequsite for life to spring forth. So, we really have 3 likely objects for life in the solar system. Titan, Europa and Earth. We know that there is life on earth, but the jury is still out on if it's sustainable or not. Europa, with the possiblity of liquid water under it's icey exterior, would be a strange place indeed for life to spring up. Titan, enshrouded in a cloudy mantle has always been a question mark.
Huygens is starting to peirce that mantle. Since this is a joint operation of NASA, European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency we hope that any really stunning findings will not be quashed.
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