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Article Dans Une Revue Astronomy and Astrophysics Review Année : 2009

A review of Titan’s atmospheric phenomena

Résumé

Saturn's satellite Titan is a particularly interesting body in our solar system. It is the only satellite with a dense atmosphere, which is primarily made of nitrogen and methane. It harbours an intricate photochemistry, that populates the atmosphere with aerosols, but that should deplete irreversibly the methane. The observation that methane is not depleted led to the study of Titan's methane cycle, starting with its atmospheric part. The features that inhabit Titan's atmosphere can last for timescales varying from year to day. For instance, the reversal of the north-south asymmetry is linked to the 16-year seasonal cycle. Diurnal phenomena have also been observed, like a stratospheric haze enhancement or a possible tropospheric drizzle. Furthermore, clouds have been reported on Titan since 1993. From these first detections and up to now, with the recent inputs from the Cassini-Huygens mission, clouds have displayed a large range of shapes, altitudes, and natures, from the flocky tropospheric clouds at the south pole to the stratiform ones in the northern stratosphere. It is still difficult to compose a clear picture of the physical processes governing these phenomena, even M. Hirtzig (B) LATMOS, IPSL,
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Dates et versions

hal-03657699 , version 1 (12-10-2022)

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Mathieu Hirtzig, Tetsuya Tokano, Sébastien Rodriguez, Stéphane Le Mouélic, Christophe Sotin. A review of Titan’s atmospheric phenomena. Astronomy and Astrophysics Review, 2009, 17, pp.105 - 147. ⟨10.1007/s00159-009-0018-0⟩. ⟨hal-03657699⟩
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