Mackay Lacus

Mackay Lacus

False-color Cassini radar image of hydrocarbon lakes on Titan (2006), showing Mackay Lacus at upper left.
Feature type Lacus
Coordinates 78°19′N 97°32′W / 78.32°N 97.53°W / 78.32; -97.53Coordinates: 78°19′N 97°32′W / 78.32°N 97.53°W / 78.32; -97.53
Diameter 180 km[note 1]
Eponym Lake Mackay

Mackay Lacus is the seventh largest of a number of hydrocarbon seas and lakes found on Saturn's largest moon, Titan. The lake is composed of liquid methane and ethane,[1] and was detected by the Cassini space probe.

Mackay Lacus is located at coordinates 78.32°N and 97.53°W on Titan's globe and is 180 km in length.[2][note 1] It is named after Lake Mackay in Western Australia.[2]

Notes

  1. 1 2 The USGS web site gives the size as a "diameter", but it is actually the length in the longest dimension.

References

  1. ↑ Coustenis, A.; Taylor, F. W. (21 July 2008). Titan: Exploring an Earthlike World. World Scientific. pp. 154–155. ISBN 978-981-281-161-5.
  2. 1 2 "Mackay Lacus". USGS Astrogeology Science Center. USGS. Retrieved 2013-12-28.
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