Journal Article

The abundances of constituents of Titan's atmosphere from the GCMS instrument on the Huygens probe

Carignan, G. R., Demick, J. E., Frost, R. L., Gautier, D., Niemann, H. B., Raulin, F., Israel, G., Paulkovich, M., Bauer, S. J., Haberman, J. A., Raaen, E., Way, S. H., Harpold, D. N., Atreya, S. K., Owen, T. C., Lunine, J. I., Hunten, D. M., Kasprzak, W. T.

2005

Overview

Saturn's largest moon, Titan, remains an enigma, explored only by remote sensing from Earth, and by the Voyager and Cassini spacecraft. The most puzzling aspects include the origin of the molecular nitrogen and methane in its atmosphere, and the mechanism(s) by which methane is maintained in the face of rapid destruction by photolysis. The Huygens probe, launched from the Cassini spacecraft, has made the first direct observations of the satellite's surface and lower atmosphere. Here we report direct atmospheric measurements from the Gas Chromatograph Mass Spectrometer (GCMS), including altitude profiles of the constituents, isotopic ratios and trace species (including organic compounds). The primary constituents were confirmed to be nitrogen and methane. Noble gases other than argon were not detected. The argon includes primordial 36 Ar, and the radiogenic isotope 40 Ar, providing an important constraint on the outgassing history of Titan. Trace organic species, including cyanogen and ethane, were found in surface measurements. New views of Titan The Huygens probe landed on Titan on 14 January this year, and seven papers published in this issue record the encounter. They describe a world that resembles a primitive Earth, complete with weather systems and geological activity. The ‘Huygens on Titan’ section opens with an overview of the descent and landing and a News and Views piece. Tomasko et al . describe the dry riverbed and drainage channels seen during Huygens' descent, evidence that liquid methane falls as rain or erupts from cryovolcanoes, periodically flooding the surface. This paper includes the images used on the cover to the Huygens section. Niemann et al . measured the abundances of isotopes of argon, nitrogen and carbon in the atmosphere, and conclude that there is no evidence that Titan's methane comes from biological activity. Fulchignoni et al . obtained precise measurements of temperature and pressure from the upper atmosphere right down to the surface. On the way down Huygens recorded evidence for lightning. Zarnecki et al . report that the probe landed on a relatively smooth surface of icy grains with the consistency of wet clay or sand. Isräl et al . report that the aerosols in Titan's clouds have solid cores made from complex organic molecules containing carbon and nitrogen. And Bird et al . found that on average Titan's winds blow in the same direction as the moon rotates, and that close to the surface these winds are very weak, travelling at around walking speed.

• Publisher: Nature Publishing Group UK,Nature Publishing Group
• Subject: Argon / Argon - analysis / Atmosphere / Atmosphere - chemistry / Carbon - analysis / Carbon - chemistry / Ethane / Extraterrestrial Environment - chemistry / Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry - instrumentation / Humanities and Social Sciences / huygens-articles / Isotopes - analysis / Methane / Methane - analysis / Methane - chemistry / Moons / multidisciplinary / Nitrogen / Nitrogen - analysis / Nitrogen - chemistry / Ocean, Atmosphere / Organic compounds / Photolysis / Remote sensing / Saturn / Science / Science (multidisciplinary) / Sciences of the Universe / Space exploration / Space Flight - instrumentation / Spacecraft