Methane Gas Stabilizes Supercooled Ethane Droplets in Titan's Clouds

Details Methane Gas Stabilizes Supercooled Ethane Droplets in Titan's Clouds Methane Gas Stabilizes Supercooled Ethane Droplets in Titan's Clouds

Mar 2010

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2010apj...712l..40w&link_type=abstract

The Astrophysical Journal Letters, Volume 712, Issue 1, pp. L40-L43 (2010).

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astronomy

6

Planets And Satellites: Atmospheres

Scientific paper

Strong evidence for ethane clouds in various regions of Titan's atmosphere has recently been found. Ethane is usually assumed to exist as ice particles in these clouds, although the possible role of liquid and supercooled liquid ethane droplets has been recognized. Here, we report on infrared spectroscopic measurements of ethane aerosols performed in the laboratory under conditions mimicking Titan's lower atmosphere. The results clearly show that liquid ethane droplets are significantly stabilized by methane gas which is ubiquitous in Titan's nitrogen atmosphere—a phenomenon that does not have a counterpart for water droplets in Earth's atmosphere. Our data imply that supercooled ethane droplets are much more abundant in Titan's clouds than previously anticipated. Possibly, these liquid droplets are even more important for cloud processes and the formation of lakes than ethane ice particles.

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