Vertical Distribution of Cyclopropenylidene and Propadiene in the Atmosphere of Titan
-
1.
Jet Propulsion Lab
-
2.
California Institute of Technology
Abstract
Titan's atmosphere is a natural laboratory for exploring the photochemical synthesis of organic molecules. Significant recent advances in the study of the atmosphere of Titan include: (a) detection of C₃ molecules: C₃H₆, CH₂CCH₂, c-C₃H₂, and (b) retrieval of C₆H₆, which is formed primarily via C₃ chemistry, from Cassini Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrograph data. The detection of c-C₃H₂ is of particular significance as ring molecules are of great astrobiological importance. Using the Caltech/JPL KINETICS code, along with the best available photochemical rate coefficients and parameterized vertical transport, we are able to account for the recent observations. It is significant that ion chemistry, reminiscent of that in the interstellar medium, plays a major role in the production of c-C₃H₂ above 1000 km.
Copyright and License
© 2022. The Author(s). Published by the American Astronomical Society.
Original content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI.
Acknowledgement
The research was carried out at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. It was supported by the NASA Astrobiology Institute (80NM0018D0004). We thank Run-Lie Shia for help with modifying the KINETICS code used in our calculations.
Files
| Name | Size | Download all |
|---|---|---|
|
md5:1ea2fc7ee032f9f2f41962734b46312c
|
3.5 MB | Preview Download |
Additional details
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- 80NM0018D0004
- Accepted
-
2022-04-27Accepted
- Available
-
2022-07-18Published
- Caltech groups
- Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences
- Publication Status
- Published