This is a close-up image of Senkyo, a large region on Titan made up of dark dune fields. Regions like this are called “low albedo” , or low reflectivity, areas and they wrap around the moon’s equatorial region. The dunes may be made up of material that falls from Titan’s thick smoglike atmosphere.

When weather permits, these regions become very visible to Cassini’s cloud-piercing infrared cameras. Click here for a wider view of Titan showing Senkyo and neighboring Aztlan to the west.

In 3 days, on December 12, Cassini will perform its 63rd flyby of Titan, passing through the wake the moon creates as it travels through Saturn’s magnetosphere. It will use the opportunity to study the effect the moon has on its parent planet’s magnetic field.

Image: NASA/JPL/SSI