Titan's Atmospheric Temperatures, Winds, and Composition

• Published in: Science
• Main Authors: Flasar, Michael, Achterberg, Richard K., Conrath, Barney J., Gierasch, Peter J., Kunde, Virgil G., Nixon, Conor A., Bjoraker, Gordon L., Jennings, Donald E., Romani, Paul N., Simon-Miller, Amy A., Bézard, Bruno, Coustenis, Athéna, Irwin, Patrick G. J., Teanby, Nicholas A., Brasunas, J., Pearl, John C., Segura, M. E., Carlson, Ronald C., Mamoutkine, Andrei, Schinder, P. J., Barucci, Maria Antonella, Courtin, Régis, Fouchet, Thierry, Gautier, Daniel, Lellouch, Emmanuel, Marten, André, Prangé, Renée, Vinatier, Sandrine, Strobel, Darell, Calcutt, Simon B., Read, Peter L., Taylor, Frederic W., Bowles, N., Samuelson, Robert E., Orton, Glenn S., Spilker, Linda J., Owen, Tobias C., Spencer, John R., Showalter, Mark R., Ferrari, C., Abbas, Mian M., Raulin, François, Edgington, Scott G., Ade, Peter A., Wishnow, E. H.
• Other Authors: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), Science Systems and Applications, Inc., 5900 Princess Garden Parkway, Suite 300, Lanham, Department of Astronomy, Cornell University, Department of Astronomy, University of Maryland, 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), Physique des plasmas, 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)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire de Paris, 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), Department of Atmospheric, Oceanic and Planetary Physics Oxford (AOPP), University of Oxford, QSS Group, Department of Earth and Planetary Science, Johns Hopkins University, Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), NASA-California Institute of Technology (CALTECH), Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawaii, Department of Space Studies, Southwest Research Institute, Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence Institute (SETI), Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA), Marshall Space Flight Center, NASA, Laboratoire Interuniversitaire des Systèmes Atmosphériques (LISA (UMR_7583)), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris-Est Créteil Val-de-Marne - Paris 12 (UPEC UP12)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Paris Cité (UPCité), Cardiff University, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2005
• Subjects: [PHYS.ASTR]Physics [physics]/Astrophysics [astro-ph]; South pole
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-03785584; https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1111150

International audience 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.