Context. The chemical building blocks of life contain a large proportion of nitrogen, an essential element. Titan, the largest moon of Saturn, with its dense atmosphere of molecular nitrogen and methane, offers an exceptional opportunity to explore how this element is incorporated into carbon chains through atmospheric chemistry in our Solar System.
Seasonal variation is significant in Titan's atmosphere due to the large change of solar insolation resulting from Titan's 26.7° axial tilt relative to the plane of Saturn's orbit.
As the only icy satellite with a thick atmosphere and liquids on its surface, Titan represents a unique end-member to study the impact cratering process.
In Titan's nitrogen-methane atmosphere, photochemistry leads to the production of complex organic particles, forming Titan's thick haze layers.
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 exotic meteorological phenomenon.
We report the results of the trajectory-based simulation of far-infrared collision-induced absorption (CIA) due to CH4−N2 pairs at temperatures between 70 and 400 K.
In response to ESA Voyage 2050 announcement of opportunity, we propose an ambitious L-class mission to explore one of the most exciting bodies in the Solar System, Saturn largest moon Titan.
Key questions surrounding the origin and evolution of Titan and the Saturnian system in which it resides remain following the Cassini-Huygens mission.
With future space exploration in mind, a Cornell-led team of astronomers has published the final maps of Titan's liquid methane rivers and tributaries - as seen by NASA's late Cassini mission - so that may help provide context for Dragonfly's upcoming 2030s expedition.
Titan, Saturn's largest moon, is a natural laboratory to study the origins of life. Like Earth, Titan has a dense atmosphere and seasonal weather cycles, but the chemical and mineralogical makeup are significantly different.
Among our solar system's many moons, Saturn's Titan stands out - it's the only moon with a substantial atmosphere and liquid on the surface. It even has a weather system like Earth's, though it rains methane instead of water. Might it also host some kind of life?
According to clues left by the Cassini mission, Titan, one of the two Solar System bodies with a hydrologic cycle, may harbor liquid hydrocarbon-based analogs of our terrestrial aquifers, referred to as "alkanofers". On the Earth, petroleum and natural gas reservoirs show a vertical gradient in chemical composition, established over geological timescales.
Titan, Saturn's largest moon, supports a dense atmosphere, numerous bodies of liquid on its surface, and as a richly organic world is a primary focus for understanding the processes that support the development of life.
On Titan, methane (CH4) and ethane (C2H6) are the dominant species found in the lakes and seas.
Thanks to the Cassini-Huygens mission, Titan, the pale orange dot of Pioneer and Voyager encounters has been revealed to be a dynamic, hydrologically-shaped, organic-rich ocean world offering unparalleled opportunities to explore prebiotic chemistry.
This study presents a 13 years survey of haze UV extinction profiles, monitoring the temporal evolution of the detached haze layer (DHL) in Titan's upper atmosphere (350-600 km).
The building blocks of Titan and Enceladus are believed to have formed in a late-stage circumplanetary disk around Saturn.
From orbit, the visibility of Titan's surface is limited to a handful of narrow spectral windows in the near-infrared (near-IR), primarily from the absorption of methane gas.
Catherine Neish is counting the days until her space launch. While the Western planetary geologist isn't space-suiting up for her own interstellar voyage, she is playing a key role in an international mission -- dispatching a robotic drone to Saturn's moon Titan -- set to blast-off in 2027.
The photochemical haze produced in the upper atmosphere of Titan plays a key role in various atmospheric and surface processes on Titan.