Titan's temporal evolution in stratospheric trace gases near the poles

• Main Authors: Coustenis, Athéna, Jennings, D., Achterberg, Richard K., Bampasidis, Georgios, Lavvas, P., Nixon, Conor A., Teanby, Nicholas A., Anderson, C., Cottini, Valeria, Flasar, Michael
• Other Authors: Laboratoire d'études spatiales et d'instrumentation en astrophysique (LESIA), Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire de Paris, Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Pôle Planétologie du LESIA, Laboratoire d'études spatiales et d'instrumentation en astrophysique = Laboratory of Space Studies and Instrumentation in Astrophysics (LESIA), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire de Paris, Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Paris Cité (UPCité)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire de Paris, Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Paris Cité (UPCité), NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, Planetary Systems Laboratory (NASA/GSFC), Section of Astrophysics, Astronomy and Mechanics, Department of Physics, University of Athens, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), University of Bristol Bristol
• Format: Conference Object
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2015
• Subjects: [PHYS.ASTR]Physics [physics]/Astrophysics [astro-ph]; South pole
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-03734191

International audience We analyze spectra acquired by the Cassini/Composite Infrared Spectrometer (CIRS) at high resolution from October 2010 until September 2014 in nadir mode. Up until mid 2012, Titan's Northern atmosphere exhibited the enriched chemical content found since the Voyager days (November 1980), with a peak around the Northern Spring Equinox (NSE) in 2009. Since then, we have observed the appearance at Titan's south pole of several trace species for the first time, such as HC3N and C6H6, observed only at high northern latitudes before equinox. We investigate here latitudes poleward of 50°S and 50°N from 2010 (after the Southern Autumnal Equinox : SAE) until 2014.