Spatial variations of temperature and composition in Titan's atmosphere - Recent results

Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy

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Atmospheric Composition, Satellite Atmospheres, Spatial Distribution, Temperature Profiles, Titan, Voyager 1 Spacecraft, Astronomical Models, Carbon Dioxide, Carbon Monoxide, Cyanoacetylene, Hydrocarbons, Hydrocyanic Acid, Infrared Astronomy, Nitriles

Scientific paper

Recent analyses of Voyager 1 infrared data allowed the retrieval of temperature profiles and precise means abundances of the minor constituents in Titan's atmosphere. At first limited in the equatorial region, this study was extended to four other different locations covering Titan's disk from 60 deg S to 70 deg N. The thermal structure model thus obtained shows a remarkable decrease in the stratospheric temperature (15-20 K) from the equator to the North Pole and a lesser one (about 3 K) from the equator to the South Pole. Besides the thermal structure, a search for variabilities in the composition of Titan's stratosphere, as a function of latitude, yielded the following results. No noticeable variations with latitude were observed for the most abundant gases after Co (C2H2, C2H6, C3H8). However, a Pole-to-Pole variability is found for certain species: C4H2 and HC3N show a strong abundance increase from the equator to the North Pole, while a less pronounced one is observed for C3H4, C2H4, and HCN. On the other hand, CO2 decreases near the North Pole. Yung (1987) offers a tentative explanation for the nitrile enhancement based on seasonal effects, but no model exists to account for the other variations.

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