Is Saturn's moon Titan even more Earth-like than we thought?

Scientists reveal that underneath thick layers of cloud cover, the moon's icy surface has complex river networks and a remarkably smooth landscape

Images from NASA's 2004 Cassini mission show river networks draining into lakes in north polar region of Saturn's largest natural satellite, Titan.
(Image credit: NASA/JPL/USGS)

Saturn's mysterious moon Titan has long intrigued scientists, but historically they've had a hard time studying the moon's terrain because it's surrounded by a thick orange haze. In 2004, NASA's unmanned Cassini spacecraft was finally able to penetrate Titan's murky fog, beaming geological images back to earth. Researchers from MIT and and the University of Tennessee at Knoxville who have been studying those images recently concluded that the moon's icy surface is surprisingly Earth-like in a number of ways. Here's what you should know:

What does Titan's surface look like?

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