Shikoku Facula

Infobox feature on Titan
name=Shikoku Facula


caption="Cassini" view of Shikoku Facula
type=Facula
latitude=10.4
N_or_S=S
longitude=164.1
E_or_W=W
diameter=200 km
eponym=Shikoku

Shikoku Facula is a region of bright material on Saturn's moon Titan.

Shikoku was first seen in "Cassini" images taken in October 2004 and has been observed several times since. Prior to provisionally receiving an official name in August 2005, this feature was nicknamed "Great Britain", due to its shape's resemblance to that island on Earth. This feature, 200×160 kilometers across, is located within Titan's Shangri-la dark region and is centered at 10.4° South Latitude, 164.1° West Longitude. Images of Shikoku reveal a complex boundary between the feature's margin and the dark terrain that surrounds it, as well as several dark channels terminating along the bright-dark boundary.

This feature was observed by the Cassini RADAR instrument's SAR imaging mode on April 30, 2006. This new view reveals variations in roughness across Shikoku, including a circular patch of smooth terrain 35 kilometers across in northeastern Shikoku that maybe an impact crater. [http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA08426] This circular feature, along with another region of relatively smooth terrain in southcentral Shikoku, do not appear to have a counterpart in the near-infrared images taken by the Imaging Science Subsystem cameras.

Shikoku Facula is named after a Japanese island.