1 - 5 Micron Spectra of Titan: The Spectral and Altitudinal Variation of Haze

  • Published : 2014.10.13

Abstract

Using solar occultation data obtained by Cassini/Visual Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS), we were able to retrieve the 1 - 5 mm optical-depth spectra of the Titanian haze, for which only selected wavelength and altitudinal ranges were previously analyzed. We found that the gross 1 - 5 mm shapes of the retrieved haze spectra are significantly different from the spectra of tholin samples in the literature. We also derived the vertical variation of the spectral structure of the $3.3-3.4{\mu}m$ absorption feature of the Titan haze from the VIMS data recorded between 250 and 700 km altitude. We found a marked change between 480 and 580 km in the relative amplitudes of the 3.33 and $3.38{\mu}m$ features which are characteristic of aromatic (double C=Cchains or rings) or aliphatic (single C-C chains) structural groups, respectively. Dicussions on this spectral and altitudinal variation will be presented.

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