Atmospheric Chemistry of Titan Options

[Juramike]

Here is a "Benzene-O-Vision" graphic showing the amount of benzene and phenyl radicals at high altitudes on Titan. This is based on detections of benzene and phenyl radical (which recombined in the sample chamber to make benzene) using the INMS instrument during closest approach. The numbers are normalized to constant pressure altitude, roughly 1000 km.



The data was taken from Table 1 in: Vuitton et al, Journal of Geophysical Research 113 (2008) E05007. "Formation and distribution of benzene on Titan". doi: 10.1029/2007JE002997 [EDIT 5/24/10: Article freely available here] and overlaid on a map of Titan.

The authors mentioned that the errors in these measurements are 20%.

These detections are well above the detached haze layer. Most are at the same sun azimuth angle. (T23 observation had the lowest angle.) Assuming that the temporal difference is minimal (each dot is from a different flyby), there doesn't appear to be an obvious correlation with latitude.

This graphic does show that benzene is present even waaaay up in the thermosphere and ionosphere.

[centsworth_II]

This gives hope of much greater understanding of Titan's atmosphere in the years to come.

NASA’s “COSmIC” Simulator Helps Fingerprint Unknown Matter in Space
Located at NASA’s Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif., this specialized facility, called the Cosmic Simulation Chamber (COSmIC)...

The chamber is the heart of the system. It recreates the extreme conditions that reign in space...

...Ames scientists delivered their first major milestone by coupling COSmIC with a cavity ringdown spectrometer, an extremely sensitive device that can detect the spectral fingerprint of matter at the molecular level.

Now, another major milestone has been achieved by coupling COSmIC with a time-of-flight mass spectrometer, an ultra-sensitive device that detects the mass of matter at the molecular level....

To understand Cassini’s data, scientists need this very powerful, very sensitive new tool. They will begin their analysis by forming molecules and species in the lab, measuring them in situ (inside their environment without disturbing them), and then trying to match their identity to Titan’s unknown aerosol molecules.

“Titan’s upper atmosphere data shows a rich spectrum. We will recreate those data in the lab and compare them to Cassini’s data. If they fit, great. If not, we will try something else. We will know when we are coming close to understanding them. We now have the right tool to do this,” said Salama.