Physics – Optics
Scientific paper
May 1997
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1997adspr..19.1288c&link_type=abstract
Advances in Space Research, Volume 19, Issue 8, p. 1288-1288.
Physics
Optics
Scientific paper
Titan's thick N_2 atmosphere was observed in the far-infrared by the Voyager 1 spectrometer (IRIS) in 1980 and the acquired spectra were analysed using a radiative transfer code. Vertical distributions of the atmospheric constituents were obtained near the north pole. A complete model of the atmosphere in terms of composition and temperature was derived for various locations on Titan's disk. The photochemical products of the atmosphere are expected to deposit on the surface, which remains hidden in the optical range by thick haze layers. From long-term (1991-1995) ground-based spectroscopy in the near infrared (1-2.5 micron), using the FTS at the CFHT (Hawaii), 4 atmospheric windows (1.08, 1.28, 1.6, 2.0 micron) allowed us to probe the lower troposphere and surface of the satellite (Coustenis et.al., 1995). The observations show that the geometric albedo of Titan, measured over one orbit (16 days), show significant variations indicative of a brighter leading atmosphere and a darker trailing one, with a maximum near 120 degrees longitude and a minimum near 230 degrees. Modelling of the surface albedo indicates a mostly solid surface, consistent with the dominant presence of water ice on the surface, similarly to that of other satellites, e.g. Hiperion and Callisto. Spatially-resolved Titan images obtained in the 2 micron region with the COME ON_+ adaptive optics system in 1994 and 1995 show a bright region near 120 degrees orbital phase, in agreement with the spectroscopy results and the HST images. The nature of Titan's surface is still under investigation in order to reconcile theory and observations.
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