Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Oct 2010
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2010dps....42.3624s&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #42, #36.24
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
Scientific paper
The atmosphere of Titan is composed primarily of nitrogen and methane, with an active organic chemistry producing an organic haze. However, there is still debate about the characterization of the chemical haze, making it urgent to study the formation and destruction processes of large carbon molecules in Titan's atmosphere.
Aromatic compounds, such as benzene, were detected in the ionosphere of Titan during a Cassini/Huygens flyby. Benzene is a required precursor for the formation of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons, PAHs, so it's detection in the atmosphere of Titan suggests that PAHs may be part of aerosol particles. In addition the modeled chemical pathway of the production of complex organic compounds in Titan's atmosphere strongly enhances the PAH pathway to form, as do laboratory experiments on forming tholins (analogs to Titan's haze particles). This motivated our project to investigate the role of PAHs, and nitrogen-containing PAHs (NPAHs), in the pathways from gas phase molecules to organic aerosols, in the laboratory.
A custom-built Reflectron Time-Of-Flight Mass Spectrometer (ReTOF-MS) has been added to the NASA Ames Cosmic Simulation Chamber (CSC), which is equipped with a Pulsed Discharge Nozzle (PDN) and Cavity Ring Down Spectroscopy. This allows us to perform in situ investigations of the products formed in free-jet discharge experiments of relevance to the atmosphere of Titan. Here we present and discuss recent progress in the laboratory studies including improved mass spectra demonstrating our ability to detect ions from the CSC with the ReTOF-MS. We also present the initial mass spectra for the studies of relevance to the atmosphere of Titan.
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Acknowledgments: This research is supported by NASA SMD (Planetary Atmospheres Program). C. L. R. & C. S. C. acknowledge the support of the NASA Postdoctoral Program (NPP).
Contreras S'anchez C.
Imanaka Hiroshi
Lebonnois Sébastien
McKay Chris
Ricketts Claire L.
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