Search Publications
In Situ Measurements of the Size and Density of Titan Aerosol Analogs
Hörst, S. M.; Tolbert, M. A.
The organic haze produced from complex CH4/N2 chemistry in the atmosphere of Titan plays an important role in processes that occur in the atmosphere and on its surface. The haze particles act as condensation nuclei and are therefore involved in Titan's methane hydrological cycle. They also may behave like sediment on Titan's …
Titan's Bulk Composition Constrained by Cassini-Huygens: Implication for Internal Outgassing
Hersant, F.; Tobie, G.; Gautier, D.
In the present report, by using a series of data gathered by the Cassini-Huygens mission, we constrain the bulk content of Titan's interior for various gas species (CH4, CO2, CO, NH3, H2S, Ar, Ne, Xe), and we show that most of the gas compounds (except H2S and Xe) initially incorporated within…
About the Possible Role of Hydrocarbon Lakes in the Origin of Titan's Noble Gas Atmospheric Depletion
Lunine, J. I.; Cordier, D.; Mousis, O. +4 more
An unexpected feature of Titan's atmosphere is the strong depletion in primordial noble gases revealed by the Gas Chromatograph Mass Spectrometer aboard the Huygens probe during its descent on 2005 January 14. Although several plausible explanations have already been formulated, no definitive response to this issue has yet been found. Here, we inv…
An Estimate of the Chemical Composition of Titan's Lakes
Mousis, Olivier; Lunine, Jonathan I.; Lavvas, Panayotis +2 more
Hundreds of radar-dark patches interpreted as lakes have been discovered in the north and south polar regions of Titan. We have estimated the composition of these lakes by using the direct abundance measurements from the Gas Chromatograph Mass Spectrometer aboard the Huygens probe and recent photochemical models based on the vertical temperature p…
Sequestration of Ethane in the Cryovolcanic Subsurface of Titan
Mousis, Olivier; Schmitt, Bernard
Saturn's largest satellite, Titan, has a thick atmosphere dominated by nitrogen and methane. The dense orange-brown smog hiding the satellite's surface is produced by photochemical reactions of methane, nitrogen, and their dissociation products with solar ultraviolet, which lead primarily to the formation of ethane and heavier hydrocarbons. In the…
Sequestration of Noble Gases by H+3 in Protoplanetary Disks and Outer Solar System Composition
Ceccarelli, C.; Mousis, O.; Pauzat, F. +1 more
We study the efficiency of the noble gas sequestration by the ion H+3 in the form of X H+3 complexes (with X = argon , krypton, or xenon) in gas-phase conditions similar to those encountered during the cooling of protoplanetary disks. We show that X H+3 complexes form very stable st…
Oxirane: An Exotic Oxygenated Organic Compound on Titan?
Raulin, François; Coll, Patrice; Bernard, Jean-Michel +1 more
After the discovery of CO, CO2, and more recently H2O in Titan's atmosphere, the chemistry of oxygenated organic compounds in this environment has been limited to theoretical studies only. Both kinetic and thermochemical models predict the formation of methanol and formaldehyde as the main O-organic products. Here we show tha…