Evidence for a Polar Ethane Cloud on Titan

Authors :: Vincent Boudon
Christopher P. McKay
Pascal Rannou
Robert H. Brown
B. J. Buratti
Caitlin A. Griffith
Ralf Jaumann
P. D. Nicholson
Athena Coustenis
Pierre Drossart
Paulo Penteado
Kevin H. Baines
Roger N. Clark
A. Negrao
Service d'aéronomie (SA)
Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
Source :: Science, Science, 2006, 313, pp.1620-1622. ⟨10.1126/science.1128245⟩, Science, American Association for the Advancement of Science, 2006, 313, pp.1620-1622. ⟨10.1126/science.1128245⟩
Publication Year :: 2006
Publisher :: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), 2006.
Abstract: Spectra from Cassini's Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer reveal the presence of a vast tropospheric cloud on Titan at latitudes 51 degrees to 68 degrees north and all longitudes observed (10 degrees to 190 degrees west). The derived characteristics indicate that this cloud is composed of ethane and forms as a result of stratospheric subsidence and the particularly cool conditions near the moon's north pole. Preferential condensation of ethane, perhaps as ice, at Titan's poles during the winters may partially explain the lack of liquid ethane oceans on Titan's surface at middle and lower latitudes.

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