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Energy deposition of pickup ions and heating of Titan's atmosphere

Johnson, R. E.; Michael, M.

The deposition of energy, escape of atomic and molecular nitrogen and heating of the upper atmosphere of Titan are studied using a Direct Simulation Monte Carlo method. It is found that the globally averaged flux of deflected magnetospheric atomic nitrogen ions and molecular pickup ions deposit more energy in Titan's upper atmosphere than solar ra…

Titan's surface before Cassini

Lorenz, Ralph D.; Lunine, Jonathan I.

We review current understanding of Titan's surface, synthesizing a paradigm from Earth-based radar observations and near-infrared surface maps, together with reanalysis of Voyager data and results from published theoretical models. Based on these we suggest that Titan has a varied landscape with a variety of tectonic and erosive features indicativ…