{{short description|Island on Kraken Mare on Titan}} [[File:PIA09180_Kraken_Mare.jpg|thumb|Radar image of Mayda Insula (just right and below center) in Kraken Mare]] '''Mayda Insula''' is an island in the [[Kraken Mare]], a body of liquid composed primarily of methane, on [[Saturn|Saturn's]] largest moon [[Titan (moon)|Titan]]. 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]]'' mission to Saturn. Its name was approved by the [[International Astronomical Union|International Astronomical Union Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature]] on April 11, 2008,<ref name="USGS Titan Mare and Insula Names">{{cite web |url=https://astrogeology.usgs.gov/news/nomenclature/titan-mare-and-insula-names |title=Titan Mare and Insula Names |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=April 11, 2008 |website=Astrogeology Science Center |publisher=USGS |access-date=June 28, 2017 }}</ref> becoming the first named island on a planetary body other than earth, and the largest.<ref name="Nomenclature Search Results">{{cite web |url=https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/SearchResults?featureType=Insula,%20insulae |title=Nomenclature Search Results, Feature Type: Insula, insulae |author=<!--Not stated--> |website=Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature |publisher=International Astronomical Union (IAU) Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN) |access-date=June 28, 2017 }}</ref> NASA notes, however, that the possibility Mayda Insula is actually [[peninsular]] (i.e., connected to the mainland by a strip of land) cannot be conclusively ruled out.<ref name="NASA Photojournal">{{cite web |url=https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA09180 |title=PIA09180: Titan: Larger and Larger Lakes |date=February 27, 2007 |website=Photojournal |publisher=NASA/JPL-Caltech |access-date=June 28, 2017 }}</ref> 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]].<ref name="Nomenclature Search Results"/> Its name was approved the same day as the names of Kraken Mare and [[Ligeia Mare]].<ref name="USGS Titan Mare and Insula Names"/>
==Characteristics== Mayda Insula lies in the northern end of the Kraken Mare near Titan's north pole.<ref name="Titan from Cassini–Huygens Ch 5">{{cite encyclopedia |last1=Jaumann |first1=R. | last2=Kirk |first2=R. L. | last3=Lorenz |first3=R. D. |last4=Lopes |first4=R. M. C. |author4-link=Rosaly Lopes |last5=Stofan |first5=E. |last6=Turtle |first6=E. P. |last7=Keller |first7=H. U. |last8=Wood |first8=C. A. |last9=Sotin |first9=C. |last10=Soderblom |first10=L. A. |last11=Tomasko |first11=M. |editor-last1=Brown |editor-first1=R. | editor-last2=Lebreton |editor-first2=J. P. | editor-last3=Waite |editor-first3=J. |encyclopedia=Titan from Cassini–Huygens |title=Geology and Surface Processes on Titan |year=2009 |publisher=Springer |location=Dordrecht, Netherlands |isbn=978-1402092152 |pages=75–140 }}</ref> 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.<ref name="Mayda Insula IAU">{{cite web |url=https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/14401;jsessionid=853D12EC763343D4DDA76A35ACE3CC21 |title=Mayda Insula |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=April 11, 2008 |website=Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature |publisher=International Astronomical Union (IAU) Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN) |access-date=June 28, 2017 }}</ref> The island is {{convert|168|km|mi}} wide at its widest point.<ref name="Mayda Insula IAU"/> Its dimensions are approximately {{convert|90|by|150|km|mi}}, about the same size as the [[Hawaii (island)|Big Island]] of [[Hawaii]].<ref name="NASA Photojournal"/>
The highest point of the interior of Mayda Insula is approximately {{convert|1200|m|ft}} above its shoreline.<ref name="Radargrammetry on three planets">{{cite journal |last1=Kirk |first1=R. L. |last2=Howington-Kraus |first2=E. |date=2008 |title=Radargrammetry on three planets |url=http://www.isprs.org/proceedings/XXXVII/congress/4_pdf/173.pdf |journal=The International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences |volume=37 |issue=B4 |pages=973–980 }}</ref> Slopes are relatively mild at approximately 1.5 degrees on average, though they can approach 5 degrees in some locations.<ref name="Radargrammetry on three planets"/> Radar images of Titan's surface show that Mayda Insula's coasts display evidence of being changed by [[fluvial]] and [[lacustrine]] processes.<ref name="Titan Surface Geology">{{cite encyclopedia |last1=Aharonson |first1=O |last2=Hayes |first2=A. G. |last3=Hayne |first3=P. O. |last4=Lopes |first4=R. M. |last5=Lucas |first5=A. |last6=Perron |first6=J. T. | editor-last1=Müller-Wodarg |editor-first1=I. |editor-last2=Griffith |editor-first2=C. A. |editor-last3=Lellouch |editor-first3=E. |editor-last4=Cravens |editor-first4=T. E. | encyclopedia=Titan: Interior, Surface, Atmosphere, and Space Environment |title=Titan's surface geology |date=2014 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |series=Cambridge Planetary Science |volume=14 |location=New York, NY |isbn=978-1139618960 |pages=63–101 }}</ref> Analyses of these fluvial features suggested that approximately 2 km<sup>3</sup> of material has been eroded from Mayda Insula and deposited elsewhere in the Kraken Mare basin.<ref name="Titan Surface Geology"/>
==In popular culture== Mayda Insula features in [[Michael Carroll (space artist)|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".<ref name="Scientific Novel">{{cite book |last=Carroll |first=Michael |date=2015 |title=On the Shores of Titan's Farthest Sea: A Scientific Novel |location=Heidelberg, Germany |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-3319177595 |author-link=Michael Carroll (space artist) }}</ref>
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".<ref>{{Cite web |date=2013-03-02 |title=INTO BATTLE: HIGH PRIEST OF SATURN – Iron Fist Magazine |url=https://www.ironfistzine.com/2013/03/02/into-battle-high-priest-of-saturn/ |access-date=2024-05-07 |language=en-GB}}</ref> Kraken Mare is also a song on the album.
==See also== *[[Lakes of Titan]] *[[List of geological features on Titan]]
==References== {{reflist}} {{Titan}} [[Category:Surface features of Titan (moon)]]