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Register a new userPhotochemical enrichment of deuterium in Titans atmosphere: new insights from Cassini-Huygens
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Cassini-Huygens data are used to re-examine the potential sources of the D/H enhancement over solar, measured in methane, in Titans atmosphere. Assuming that the system is closed with respect to carbon, the use of constraints from the Huygens probe for the determination of the current mass of atmospheric methane and the most up-to-date determination of D/H from Cassini/CIRS infrared spectra allow us to show that photochemical enrichment of deuterium is not sufficient to be the sole mechanism yielding the measured D/H value. A possible fractionation between CH3D and CH4 during the escape process may slightly enhance the deuterium enrichment, but is not sufficient to explain the observed D/H value over the range of escape values proposed in the literature. Hence, alternative mechanisms such as a primordial deuterium enrichment must be combined with the photochemical enrichment in Titans atmosphere in order to explain its current D/H value.
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We have searched for the presence of simple P and S-bearing molecules in Titans atmosphere, by looking for the characteristic signatures of phosphine and hydrogen sulfide in infrared spectra obtained by Cassini CIRS. As a result we have placed the first upper limits on the stratospheric abundances, which are 1 ppb (PH3) and 330 ppb (H2S), at the 2-sigma significance level.
Simulations of Titans atmospheric transmission and surface reflectivity have been developed in order to estimate how Titans atmosphere and surface properties could affect performances of the Cassini radar experiment. In this paper we present a selection of models for Titans haze, vertical rain distribution, and surface composition implemented in our simulations. We collected dielectric constant values for the Cassini radar wavelength ($sim 2.2$ cm) for materials of interest for Titan: liquid methane, liquid mixture of methane-ethane, water ice and light hydrocarbon ices. Due to the lack of permittivity values for Titans haze particles in the microwave range, we performed dielectric constant ($varepsilon_r$) measurements around 2.2 cm on tholins synthesized in laboratory. We obtained a real part of $varepsilon_r$ in the range of 2-2.5 and a loss tangent between $10^{-3}$ and $5.10^{-2}$. By combining aerosol distribution models (with hypothetical condensation at low altitudes) to surface models, we find the following results: (1) Aerosol-only atmospheres should cause no loss and are essentially transparent for Cassini radar, as expected by former analysis. (2) However, if clouds are present, some atmospheric models generate significant attenuation that can reach $-50 dB$, well below the sensitivity threshold of the receiver. In such cases, a $13.78 GHz$ radar would not be able to measure echoes coming from the surface. We thus warn about possible risks of misinterpretation if a textquotedblleft wet atmospheretextquotedblright $ $is not taken into account. (3) Rough surface scattering leads to a typical response of $sim -17 dB$. These results will have important implications on future Cassini radar data analysis.
In this paper we select large spectral averages of data from the Cassini Composite Infrared Spectrometer (CIRS) obtained in limb-viewing mode at low latitudes (30S--30N), greatly increasing the path length and hence signal-to-noise ratio for optically thin trace species such as propane. By modeling and subtracting the emissions of other gas species, we demonstrate that at least six infrared bands of propane are detected by CIRS, including two not previously identified in Titan spectra. Using a new line list for the range 1300-1400cm -1, along with an existing GEISA list, we retrieve propane abundances from two bands at 748 and 1376 cm-1. At 748 cm-1 we retrieve 4.2 +/- 0.5 x 10(-7) (1-sigma error) at 2 mbar, in good agreement with previous studies, although lack of hotbands in the present spectral atlas remains a problem. We also determine 5.7 +/- 0.8 x 10(-7) at 2 mbar from the 1376 cm-1 band - a value that is probably affected by systematic errors including continuum gradients due to haze and also an imperfect model of the n6 band of ethane. This study clearly shows for the first time the ubiquity of propanes emission bands across the thermal infrared spectrum of Titan, and points to an urgent need for further laboratory spectroscopy work, both to provide the line positions and intensities needed to model these bands, and also to further characterize haze spectral opacity. The present lack of accurate modeling capability for propane is an impediment not only for the measurement of propane itself, but also for the search for the emissions of new molecules in many spectral regions.
A new model for the shape of the prominent eccentric ringlet in the gap exterior to Saturns B-ring is developed based on Cassini imaging observations taken over about 8 years. Unlike previous treatments, the new model treats each edge of the ringlet separately. The Keplerian component of the model is consistent with results derived from Voyager observations, and $m=2$ modes forced by the nearby Mimas 2:1 Lindblad resonance are seen. Additionally, a free $m=2$ mode is seen on the outer edge of the ringlet. Significant irregular structure that cannot be described using normal-mode analysis is seen on the ringlet edges as well. Particularly on the inner edge, that structure remains coherent over multi-year intervals, moving at the local Keplerian rate. We interpret the irregular structure as the signature of embedded massive bodies. The long coherence time suggests the responsible bodies are concentrated near the edge of the ringlet. Long wake-like structures originate from two locations on the inner edge of the ringlet, revealing the locations of the two most massive embedded bodies in that region. As with the Voyager observations, the Cassini data sets showed no correlation between the width and the radius of the ringlet as would be expected for a self-gravitating configuration, except for a brief interval during late 2006, when the width-radius relation was similar to those seen in most other narrow eccentric ringlets in the Solar System.
Titans ionosphere contains a plethora of hydrocarbons and nitrile cations and anions as measured by the Ion Neutral Mass Spectrometer and Cassini Plasma Spectrometer (CAPS) onboard the Cassini spacecraft. Data from the CAPS Ion Beam Spectrometer (IBS) sensor have been examined for five close encounters of Titan during 2009. The high relative velocity of Cassini with respect to the cold ions in Titans ionosphere allows CAPS IBS to function as a mass spectrometer. Positive ion masses between 170 and 310 u/q are examined with ion mass groups identified between 170 and 275 u/q containing between 14 and 21 heavy (carbon/nitrogen/oxygen) atoms. These groups are the heaviest positive ion groups reported so far from the available in situ ion data at Titan. The ion group peaks are found to be consistent with masses associated with Polycyclic Aromatic Compounds (PAC), including Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon (PAH) and nitrogen-bearing polycyclic aromatic molecular ions. The ion group peak identifications are compared with previously proposed neutral PAHs and are found to be at similar masses, supporting a PAH interpretation. The spacing between the ion group peaks is also investigated, finding a spacing of 12 or 13 u/q indicating the addition of C or CH. Lastly, the occurrence of several ion groups is seen to vary across the five flybys studied, possibly relating to the varying solar radiation conditions observed across the flybys. These findings further the understanding between the low mass ions and the high mass negative ions, as well as with aerosol formation in Titans atmosphere.
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