Titan's atmospheric temperatures, winds, and composition

Flasar, F. M., Achterberg, R. K., Conrath, B. J., Gierasch, P. J., Kunde, V. G., Nixon, C. A., Bjoraker, G. L., Jennings, D. E., Romani, P. N., Simon-Miller, A. A., Bézard, B., Coustenis, A., Irwin, P. G. J., Teanby, N. A., Brasunas, J., Pearl, J. C., Segura, M. E., Carlson, R. C., Mamoutkine, A., Schinder, P. J., Barucci, A., Courtin, R., Fouchet,, T., Gautier, D., Lellouch, E., Marten, A., Prangé, R., Vinatier, S., Strobel, D. F., Calcutt, S. B., Read, P. L., Taylor, F. W., Bowles, N., Samuelson, R. E., Orton, G. S., Spilker, L. J., Owen, T. C., Spencer, J. R., Showalter, M. R., Ferrari, C., Abbas, M. M., Raulin, F., Edgington,, S., Ade, Peter A. R. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5127-0401 and Wishnow, E. H. 2005. Titan's atmospheric temperatures, winds, and composition. Science 308 (5724) , pp. 975-978. 10.1126/science.1111150

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Abstract

Temperatures obtained from early Cassini infrared observations of Titan show a stratopause at an altitude of 310 kilometers (and 186 kelvin at 15°S). Stratospheric temperatures are coldest in the winter northern hemisphere, with zonal winds reaching 160 meters per second. The concentrations of several stratospheric organic compounds are enhanced at mid- and high northern latitudes, and the strong zonal winds may inhibit mixing between these latitudes and the rest of Titan. Above the south pole, temperatures in the stratosphere are 4 to 5 kelvin cooler than at the equator. The stratospheric mole fractions of methane and carbon monoxide are (1.6 ± 0.5) × 10-2 and (4.5 ± 1.5) × 10-5, respectively.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Physics and Astronomy
Subjects:	Q Science > QB Astronomy
Publisher:	American Association for the Advancement of Science
ISSN:	0036-8075
Last Modified:	28 Oct 2022 09:47
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/75759

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