Visible and near-infrared reflectivity of solid and liquid methane: application to spectroscopy of Titan's hydrocarbon lakes

Details Visible and near-infrared reflectivity of solid and liquid methane: application to spectroscopy of Titan's hydrocarbon lakes Visible and near-infrared reflectivity of solid and liquid methane: application to spectroscopy of Titan's hydrocarbon lakes

Dec 2011

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2011agufm.p33e1797a&link_type=abstract

American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2011, abstract #P33E-1797

Physics

[3934] Mineral Physics / Optical, Infrared, And Raman Spectroscopy, [5422] Planetary Sciences: Solid Surface Planets / Ices, [5470] Planetary Sciences: Solid Surface Planets / Surface Materials And Properties, [6281] Planetary Sciences: Solar System Objects / Titan

Scientific paper

Reflectance spectroscopy provides one of the few direct observations of outer solar system bodies for interpreting their surface compositions. At Titan, the Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS) on board the Cassini spacecraft revealed dark patches on the surface through the narrow 2 and 5 μm windows of Titan's atmosphere, which have been interpreted as hydrocarbon lakes forming seasonally through a methane cycle. Whereas the composition of planetary materials in the solar system has been inferred from characteristic absorption bands, the need to identify phase states (liquid versus solid) on dynamic planetary surfaces requires laboratory reflectance ratio measurements at relevant temperatures. Using visible and near-infrared radiation from the National Synchrotron Light Source (NSLS), we will present confocal reflectance ratio measurements of solid (single crystal) and liquid CH4 at temperatures from 50-100 K. Although the position and shape of the six characteristic methane absorption bands at around 1.7 and 2.3 μm are insensitive to temperature or phase state from 50-100 K, the broad-spectrum reflectance between 0.5-2 μm decreases upon melting by about 25% at 87-94 K. Transition from solid CH4-I to liquid states at ~90 K displays a reflectance ratio (sold/liquid) of about 1.3 at 2 μm. Darkening of CH4 upon melting is similar at visible wavelengths, and consistent with VIMS observations of hydrocarbon lakes in the far northern and southern latitudes of Titan.

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