New Results on the Composition of the Outer Planets & Titan
Abstract
The turn of the century has been prolific in new results on the chemical composition of outer planets and Titan. These results come either from space missions (the Infrared Space Telescope the Cassini mission and still the Galileo in-situ probe) or from a new generation of spectrometers mounted on large ground-based telescope. In this talk I will review the latest results on three main topics : Global composition and formation : Improved measurements of the D/H N/H 15N/14N Ar/H Kr/H Xe/H ratios in the giant planets shaked our understanding of the giant planets formation. Hydrocarbon photochemistry: Initiated by CH4 photolysis it leads to the production of complex hydrocarbon species and hazes. New insights came from the detection of many radicals and molecules. Oxygen in the outer Solar System: Recent studies showed that O is ubiquitous in the outer planets stratospheres. It must originate from an exogeneous sources as indigineous O is trapped within the planetary interiors by cold tropopauses. In Jupiter it comes from cometary impacts in Uranus and Neptune from meteoritic influx. But what are the sources on Saturn and Titan
- Publication:
-
IAU Special Session
- Pub Date:
- 2003
- Bibcode:
- 2003IAUSS...1E...6F