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Science 15 September 2006:
Vol. 313. no. 5793, pp. 1620 - 1622
DOI: 10.1126/science.1128245
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Reports

Evidence for a Polar Ethane Cloud on Titan

C. A. Griffith,1 P. Penteado,1 P. Rannou,2 R. Brown,1 V. Boudon,3 K. H. Baines,4 R. Clark,5 P. Drossart,6 B. Buratti,4 P. Nicholson,7 C. P. McKay,8 A. Coustenis,6 A. Negrao,2,9 R. Jaumann10

Spectra from Cassini's Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer reveal the presence of a vast tropospheric cloud on Titan at latitudes 51° to 68° north and all longitudes observed (10° to 190° west). The derived characteristics indicate that this cloud is composed of ethane and forms as a result of stratospheric subsidence and the particularly cool conditions near the moon's north pole. Preferential condensation of ethane, perhaps as ice, at Titan's poles during the winters may partially explain the lack of liquid ethane oceans on Titan's surface at middle and lower latitudes.

1 Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, 85721 USA.
2 Service d'Aéronomie, Université de Versailles-St-Quentin, BP3, 91371 Verriéres le Buisson, France.
3 LaboratoiredePhysiquedel'Université deBourgogne, CNRS UMR 5027, Boîte Postale 47870, F-21078 Dijon, France.
4 Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, 91109 USA.
5 U.S. Geological Survey, Denver, CO, 80225 USA.
6 Observatoire de Paris, 5 Place Jules Jannsen, Meudon, France.
7 Department of Astronomy, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA.
8 National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Mountain View, CA, USA.
9 Observatório Astronómico de Lisboa, 1349–018 Lisboa, Portugal.
10 Institute of Planetary Exploration, Deutsche Zentrum für Luftund Raumfahrt, Germany.

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