Recent Results from Huygens Data
17 June 2005
Five months after landing on the surface of Titan scientists are steadily uncovering some of the moon's secrets. In recent weeks a number of interesting results have been published based on measurements made by the Huygens probe.
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Top image - 3D perspective showing different contour levels. Lower image - original DISR image of the same region |
Two recent publications present new models for Titan's interior, composition and surface.
Published in the Icarus journal, G. Tobie, et al. propose a new model for the internal structure and composition of Titan as well as the moon's formation and orbital history. The model is setup to investigate the influence of a liquid layer on the evolution of the orbital eccentricity and seeks to explain the current relatively high value of e=0.03. The model can be validated with measurements from Cassini-Huygens.
Full article: "Titan's internal structure inferred from a coupled thermal-orbital model"
Published in MNRAS (Monthly Notices of the Royal Atronomical Society), A. Hagermann, et al. present a method for inferring the relative abundances of the different constituents of a liquid, purely from its physical properties. This idea was inspired by the possible landing of the Huygens probe in a liquid environment, after which measurements by the SSP could provide the relative abundances of methane, ethane, nitrogen and argon.
Full article: "Physical properties as indicators of liquid compositions: Derivation of the composition for Titan's surface liquids from the Huygens SSP measurements"AGU Joint Assembly
At the 2005 Joint Assembly of the American Geophysical Union (AGU), results from the Cassini-Huygens mission were presented. At the moment, only the abstracts of these results are available:
"The Huygens Doppler Wind Experiment: Results from Titan"
Folkner, W. M., et al., AGU, Spring Meeting 2005, abstract #P14A-02
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"Radiative Transfer in Primordial Atmosphere of Titan"
Adams, E., et al. AGU, Spring Meeting 2005, abstract #P21C-02
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"Titan's and Saturn's exospheres: First MIMI Energetic Neutral Atom Observations"
Dandouras, I., AGU, Spring Meeting 2005, abstract #P33A-01
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"Huygens ASI Measurements At Titan: A New Insight Of Titan's Atmosphere"
Ferri, F., et al., AGU, Spring Meeting 2005, abstract #P34A-05
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"Confirmation of Our Predictions, Based on Laboratory and Theoretical Studies, on the Findings of the Huygens Probe on Titan"
Bar-Nun, A., et al., AGU, Spring Meeting 2005, abstract #P34A-06
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"Magnetospheric Drift Resonance Effects on Local Time Asymmetry, Injection Events, and Moon Interactions for Saturn as Compared to Earth"
Cooper, J. F., AGU, Spring Meeting 2005, abstract #SM11A-03
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