HCN-C₆H₆ co-condensed ice cloud in Titan’s stratosphere: Laboratory study of the CIRS-observed HASP cloud

Thumbnail Image

Files

HCN-C6H6 co-condensed ice cloud in Titan’s stratosphere.pdf (492.3 KB)

Links to Files

https://meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/EPSC-DPS2019/EPSC-DPS2019-1005-2.pdf

Permanent Link

http://hdl.handle.net/11603/14998

Collections

UMBC Center for Space Sciences and Technology (CSST) / Center for Research and Exploration in Space Sciences & Technology II (CRSST II)
UMBC Faculty Collection

Author/Creator

Author/Creator ORCID

Date

2019-09

Type of Work

conference papers and proceedings
Text

Department

Program

Citation of Original Publication

Rights

This item is likely protected under Title 17 of the U.S. Copyright Law. Unless on a Creative Commons license, for uses protected by Copyright Law, contact the copyright holder or the author.
Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Subjects

Titan’s atmosphere
Pure nitrile ice clouds
cocondensation
laboratory thin ice film spectroscopy
benzene
formation mechanism

Abstract

For thirteen years, the Cassini mission to explore Saturn and its icy moons has provided a large repository of data on Titan’s atmosphere. Ice clouds have been repeatedly observed in Titan's stratosphere by the Cassini Composite InfraRed Spectrometer (CIRS). Pure nitrile ice clouds have been identified but the chemical composition of other observed ice clouds is still undetermined. We propose cocondensation to be a formation mechanism of these other clouds. With the aim to identify the HighAltitude South Polar (HASP) ice cloud, the most recently observed cloud during the early Titan’s southern winter, we have conducted laboratory thin ice film spectroscopy of a series of organic mixed ices and found that a C6H6-HCN co-condensed ice, enriched in benzene, is the best chemical candidate for the HASP cloud.