Mayda Insula is an island in the Kraken Mare, a body of liquid composed primarily of methane, on

Saturn's Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second largest in the Solar System, after Jupiter. It is a gas giant, with an average radius of about 9 times that of Earth. It has an eighth the average density of Earth, but is over 95 times ...

largest moon

Titan Titan most often refers to: * Titan (moon), the largest moon of Saturn * Titans, a race of deities in Greek mythology Titan or Titans may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Fictional entities Fictional locations * Titan in fiction, fictiona ...

. Mayda Insula is the first island (insula) to be named on a planet or moon other than Earth.

Discovery and naming

Mayda Insula was discovered by the ''

Cassini–Huygens ''Cassini–Huygens'' ( ), commonly called ''Cassini'', was a space research, space-research mission by NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), and the Italian Space Agency (ASI) to send a space probe to study the planet Saturn and its system, i ...

'' mission to Saturn. Its name was approved by the International Astronomical Union Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature on April 11, 2008, becoming the first named island on a planetary body other than earth, and the largest. NASA notes, however, that the possibility Mayda Insula is actually

peninsular A peninsula is a landform that extends from a mainland and is only connected to land on one side. Peninsulas exist on each continent. The largest peninsula in the world is the Arabian Peninsula. Etymology The word ''peninsula'' derives , . ...

(i.e., connected to the mainland by a strip of land) cannot be conclusively ruled out. All of the insulae on Titan have been named for legendary islands and "Mayda Insula" was derived from the legendary island Mayda which was thought to exist in the northeastern

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

. Its name was approved the same day as the names of Kraken Mare and Ligeia Mare.

Characteristics

Mayda Insula lies in the northern end of the Kraken Mare near Titan's north pole. The island has a northernmost latitude of 80.3 degrees north and a southernmost latitude of 77.4 degrees north; it has a westernmost longitude of approximately 321.2 degrees west and an easternmost longitude of 302.7 degrees west. The island is wide at its widest point. Its dimensions are approximately , about the same size as the Big Island of

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

. The highest point of the interior of Mayda Insula is approximately above its shoreline. Slopes are relatively mild at approximately 1.5 degrees on average, though they can approach 5 degrees in some locations. Radar images of Titan's surface show that Mayda Insula's coasts display evidence of being changed by

fluvial A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of its course if it ru ...

and

lacustrine A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from t ...

processes. Analyses of these fluvial features suggested that approximately 2 km³ of material has been eroded from Mayda Insula and deposited elsewhere in the Kraken Mare basin.

In popular culture

Mayda Insula features in Michael Carroll's novel ''On the Shores of Titan's Farthest Sea: A Scientific Novel''. The 39th chapter of the book is titled "The Hunchback of Mayda Insula". The extreme metal band, High Priest of Saturn released an eponymous album in 2013 which has a song titled ''On Mayda Insula''. Regarding the song, they said "drowning in Kraken Mare is a metaphor for being overcome by fear and anxiety while Mayda Insula is a safe haven where you can find peace". Kraken Mare is also a song on the album.

References

{{Titan Surface features of Titan (moon)

Discovery and naming

Characteristics

In popular culture

See also

References