A Three-dimensional Map of Titan's Tropospheric Haze Distribution Based on Hubble Space Telescope Imaging*

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© 2002. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved. Printed in U.S.A.
, , Citation Eliot F. Young et al 2002 AJ 123 3473 DOI 10.1086/339826

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Author affiliations

1 Southwest Research Institute, Suite 429, 1050 Walnut Street, Boulder, CO 80302

2 Service d'Aéronomie, CNRS, 4 place Jussieu, F-75252 Paris, France

3 NASA Ames Research Center, Moffet Field, CA 94035

4 Department of Physics and Astronomy, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ 86011-6010

5 Space Telescope Science Institute, 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218

6 Current address: Lunar and Planetry Laboratory, Department of Planetary Sciences, University of Arizona 1629 East University Boulevard, Tucson AZ 85721

Dates

  1. Received 2000 December 4
  2. Accepted 2002 January 18
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1538-3881/123/6/3473

Abstract

We use Hubble Space Telescope (HST) images of Titan obtained in late 1996 to determine a three-dimensional map of haze optical depth in Titan's atmosphere. These images, taken at six wavelengths from 888 to 953 nm, probe Titan's atmosphere at various altitudes ranging from the surface to roughly 100 km. We solve for the total haze optical depths that best match each HST image and then combine the results from each wavelength into a composite three-dimensional map. The total optical depths due to haze in these maps range from 1.7 in the northernmost latitudes to 2.9 in the southernmost ones. The vertical haze profiles are roughly exponential except for a gap between 20 and 40 km, which may be a result of ethane or methane condensation onto tholins. There is a concentration of haze in the northernmost latitudes between 0 and 15 km above the surface.

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Footnotes

  • * 

    Based on observations made with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, obtained at the Space Telescope Institute, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under NASA contract NAS 5-26555. These observations are associated with proposal 6733.

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10.1086/339826