This stereographic projection of Descent Imager/Spectral Radiometer images from the European Space Agency's Huygens probe combines 60 images in 31 triplets, projected from a height of 3,000 meters (9,843 feet) above the black 'lakebed' surface. The bright area to the north (top of the image) and west is higher than the rest of the terrain, and covered in dark lines that appear to be drainage channels.

The images were then stitched together using one of several projection algorithms (in this case 'stereographic') to produce a full mosaic. The images used to construct this mosaic were taken on Jan. 14, 2005.

The Descent Imager/Spectral Radiometer is one of two NASA-funded instruments on the probe.

The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Cassini-Huygens mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter was designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The Descent Imager/Spectral team is based at the University of Arizona, Tucson, Ariz.

For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov. For more information about the Descent Imager/Spectral Radiometer visit http://www.lpl.arizona.edu/~kholso/.