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Related papers: Titan's variable ionosphere during the T118-T119 C…

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The observed disparity between the radial dependence of the ion and electron densities measured by the Cassini plasma and radio science instruments are used to show that the region between the outer edge of Saturn's main rings and its…

Space Physics · Physics 2017-01-11 Robert E Johnson , Wei-Lin Tseng , Meredith K Elrod , Ann M Persoon

The Cassini Mission has greatly improved our understanding of the dynamics and chemical processes occurring in Titan's atmosphere. It has also provided us with more insight into the formation of the aerosols in the upper atmospheric layers.…

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · Physics 2018-08-29 David Dubois , Nathalie Carrasco , Marie Petrucciani , Ludovic Vettier , Sarah Tigrine , Pascal Pernot

We report the first spectroscopic detection of ethyl cyanide (C$_2$H$_5$CN) in Titan's atmosphere, obtained using spectrally and spatially resolved observations of multiple emission lines with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter…

We report the observation of a cloud system on Titan that remained localized near 40S latitude and 60W longitude for at least 34 hours. Ground-based observations obtained with the SINFONI imaging spectrograph at the Very Large Telescope…

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · Physics 2010-03-16 Máté Ádámkovics , Jason W. Barnes , Markus Hartung , Imke de Pater

We present the impact rates of dust particles recorded by the Cosmic Dust Analyzer (CDA) aboard the Cassini spacecraft. The "dust counters" evaluate the quality of an impact and give rise to the apparent density of dust particles in space.…

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · Physics 2015-01-06 Emil Khalisi , Ralf Srama , Eberhard Grün

The impact of a rarest solar wind phenomenon [disappearing solar wind (DSW) event during 26-28 December 2022] on the Martian nightside ionosphere is investigated, for the first time, using MAVEN datasets. During an extremely low solar wind…

Space Physics · Physics 2024-04-12 L. Ram , D. Rout , S. Sarkhel

The Cassini-Huygens mission detected large negative ions in Titan's ionosphere at pressures as low as $10^{-6}$ torr. These ions ultimately polymerize to form Titan's complex organic haze particles, which are observed throughout the…

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · Physics 2026-04-23 Adis Husić , Xinting Yu , Ryan C. Blase , Edward L. Patrick , Eric Austin , Alan G. Whittington

The longevity of Cassini's exploration of Saturn's atmosphere (a third of a Saturnian year) means that we have been able to track the seasonal evolution of atmospheric temperatures, chemistry and cloud opacity over almost every season, from…

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · Physics 2015-10-21 Leigh N. Fletcher , Thomas K. Greathouse , Julianne I. Moses , Sandrine Guerlet , Robert A. West

Titan, with its thick and hazy atmosphere, is a key world in our solar system for understanding light scattering processes. NASA's Cassini mission monitored Titan between 2004 and 2017, where the derived dataset includes a large number of…

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · Physics 2025-09-11 Chase A. Cooper , Tyler D. Robinson , Jason W. Barnes , L. C. Mayorga , Lily Robinthal

Titan's atmospheric composition and dynamical state have previously been studied over numerous epochs by both ground- and space-based facilities. However, stratospheric measurements remain sparse during Titan's northern summer and fall. The…

Analysis of the Cassini Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrometer (UVIS) stellar and solar occultations at Titan to date include 12 species: N$_{2}$ (nitrogen), CH$_{4}$ (methane), C$_{2}$H$_{2}$ (acetylene), C$_{2}$H$_{4}$ (ethylene),…

Astrophysics · Physics 2009-11-13 Mao-Chang Liang , Yuk L. Yung , Donald E. Shemansky

We present an analysis of the VIMS solar occultations dataset, which allows us to extract vertically resolved information on the characteristics of Titan's atmosphere between 100-700 km with a characteristic vertical resolution of 10 km.…

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · Physics 2014-11-21 L. Maltagliati , B. Bézard , S. Vinatier , M. M. Hedman , E. Lellouch , P. D. Nicholson , C. Sotin , R. J. de Kok , B. Sicardy

Titan, with its thick, nitrogen-dominated atmosphere, has been seen from satellite and terrestrial observations to harbour methane clouds. To investigate whether atmospheric features such as clouds could also be visible from the surface of…

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · Physics 2016-03-15 Christina L. Smith , Brittney A. Cooper , John E. Moores

We analyze data from the final two years of the Cassini mission to retrieve the distributions of methane, ethane, acetylene, ethylene, and benzene in Saturn's upper stratosphere and mesosphere from stellar occultations observed by the…

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · Physics 2024-05-06 Zarah L. Brown , Tommi T. Koskinen , Julianne I. Moses , Sandrine Guerlet

The Cassini-Huygens mission measured the chemical abundances of the major components of Titan's atmosphere, and analyses of the data revealed several as-yet unexplained anomalies in the methane and hydrogen profiles. We model the…

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · Physics 2021-07-23 Erin E. Flowers , Christopher F. Chyba , Paul J. Thomas

The complex organic chemistry harbored by the atmosphere of Titan has been investigated in depth by Cassini observations. Among them, a series of solar occultations performed by the VIMS instrument throughout the 13 years of Cassini…

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · Physics 2020-01-10 Thibaud Cours , Daniel Cordier , Benoît Seignovert , Luca Maltagliati , Ludovic Biennier

Context: Saturn's massive gravity is expected to causes a tide in Titan's atmosphere, producing a surface pressure variation through the orbit of Titan and tidal winds in the troposphere. The future Dragonfly mission could analyse this…

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · Physics 2022-02-09 Benjamin Charnay , Gabriel Tobie , Sébastien Lebonnois , Ralph D. Lorenz

We study the seasonal evolution of Titan's lower stratosphere (around 15~mbar) in order to better understand the atmospheric dynamics and chemistry in this part of the atmosphere. We analysed Cassini/CIRS far-IR observations from 2006 to…

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · Physics 2018-01-10 M. Sylvestre , N. A. Teanby , S. Vinatier , S. Lebonnois , P. G. J. Irwin

Transits in the H I 1216 A (Lyman alpha), O I 1334 A, C II 1335 A, and Si III 1206.5 A lines constrain the properties of the upper atmosphere of HD209458b. In addition to probing the temperature and density profiles in the thermosphere,…

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · Physics 2015-06-11 T. T. Koskinen , R. V. Yelle , M. J. Harris , P. Lavvas

The strength of Titan's methane cycle, as measured by precipitation and evaporation, is key to interpreting fluvial erosion and other indicators of the surface-atmosphere exchange of liquids. But the mechanisms behind the occurrence of…

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · Physics 2015-06-05 Jonathan L. Mitchell