An atmospheric origin for HCN-derived polymers on Titan
Résumé
Titan, Saturn's largest moon, has a thick nitrogen-based atmosphere, where during its flyby, the IRIS infrared spectrometer aboard the Voyager 1 spacecraft detected nitriles, such as HCN, formed by EUV photochemistry based on methane CH4 and molecular nitrogen N2. Titan is also surrounded by an organic photochemical haze, according to the observations of the Cassini-Huygens and Voyager 1 missions. In-situ measurements by the Huygens spacecraft [1], and laboratory experiments synthesizing Titan analog aerosols (called tholins), have revealed that HCN is one of the major chemical signatures extracted from the aerosols, and their laboratory analogues. Laboratory experiments were conducted using a powder plasma reactor mimicking Titan's ionosphere, replicating the formation of Titan-like organic aerosols, and the associated chemistry. In this work, we simultaneously study the temporal evolution of HCN present in the gas phase, and the formation and growth of Titan tholins.
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