Cassini captures seas on Saturn's moon Titan glittering in sunlight

WASHINGTON, Nov. 3 (UPI) -- Cassini, NASA's prolific and well-traveled exploratory probe, has captured stunning imagery of the polar seas on Saturn's moon Titan.

The images show both the seas themselves, glittering in sunlight, as well as the seas' so-called sunglint -- the glare reflected in the moon's atmosphere.

In the past, Cassini has only captured one or the other -- the glare or the seas -- never both. So stunning was the image that the glare and sunglint (also known as a specular reflection) of the polar seas saturated one of the probe's imaging detectors, part of the Visual and Infrared Mapping instrument.

The imagery was captured in late August, but is only now being released by NASA. Scientists at the space agency amalgamated several of the most high resolution images into a single mosaic portrait of the moon. Though Cassini's imaging instruments detect color, the image release by NASA features colors that wouldn't naturally be seen by the human eye -- but that do correspond with varying wavelengths.

If human eyes were to stare down at Titan from above, only the haze of the moon's atmosphere would be discernible. And though the sea glitter of NASA's color-enhanced image looks enticing, Titan's polar seas aren't exactly the Mediterranean. The hydrocarbon seas are mostly composed of liquid methane and ethane.