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The two Titan stellar occultations of 14 November 2003
Observatoire de Paris, LESIA, Meudon, France
Observatoire de Paris, IMCCE, Paris, France
Observatoire de Paris, LESIA, Meudon, France
Observatoire de Paris, LESIA, Meudon, France
International Occultation Timing Association, European Section, Hannover, Germany
International Occultation Timing Association, European Section, Hannover, Germany
CISAS “G. Colombo”, Università di Padova, Padova, Italy
Observatoire de Paris, LESIA, Meudon, France
Observatoire de Paris, LESIA, Meudon, France
Observatoire de Paris, LESIA, Meudon, France
Observatoire de Paris, LESIA, Meudon, France
Observatoire de Paris, LESIA, Meudon, France
Observatoire de Paris, LESIA, Meudon, France
Observatoire de Paris, IMCCE, Paris, France
Observatoire de Paris, CERCOM, Meudon, France
Instituto Superior de Ciencias Astronómicas, and Liga Iberoamericana de Astronomía, Buenos Aires, Argentina
South African Astronomical Observatory, Cape Town, South Africa
Department of Astrophysics, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Japan
Department of Astrophysics, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Japan
Department of Astrophysics, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Japan
Windhoek, Namibia
International Occultation Timing Association, European Section, Hannover, Germany
International Occultation Timing Association, European Section, Hannover, Germany
International Occultation Timing Association, European Section, Hannover, Germany
International Occultation Timing Association, European Section, Hannover, Germany
International Occultation Timing Association, European Section, Hannover, Germany
International Occultation Timing Association, European Section, Hannover, Germany
International Occultation Timing Association, European Section, Hannover, Germany
International Occultation Timing Association, European Section, Hannover, Germany
International Occultation Timing Association, European Section, Hannover, Germany
Hakos Guestfarm, Windhoek, Namibia
Astronomical Society of Southern Africa, South Africa
Astronomical Society of Southern Africa, South Africa
Astronomical Society of Southern Africa, South Africa
Astronomical Society of Southern Africa, South Africa
Astronomical Society of Southern Africa, South Africa
Astronomical Society of Southern Africa, South Africa
Boyden Observatory, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa
Association Aude, Paris, France
Lycée Stanislas, Paris, France
Astronef, Planétarium de Saint-Etienne, Saint-Etienne, France
Observatoire Les Makes, La Rivière, La Réunion, France
Observatoire Les Makes, La Rivière, La Réunion, France
Observatoire Les Makes, La Rivière, La Réunion, France
ARECA, Sainte-Marie, La Réunion, France
ARECA, Sainte-Marie, La Réunion, France
Wyoming InfraRed Observatory, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Laramie, Wyoming, USA
Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain
Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía, Granada, Spain
Facultad de Ciencias, Departamento de Física, Grupo de Astrofísica Teórica, Universidad de Los Andes, Mérida, Venezuela
Facultad de Ciencias, Departamento de Física, Grupo de Astrofísica Teórica, Universidad de Los Andes, Mérida, Venezuela
Observatoire Aquitain des Sciences de l'Univers, Floirac, France
We report the observation of two stellar occultations by Titan on 14 November 2003, using stations in the Indian Ocean, southern
Africa, Spain, and northern and southern Americas. These occultations probed altitudes between ∼550 and 250 km (∼1 to 250
μbar) in Titan's upper stratosphere. The light curves reveal a sharp inversion layer near 515 ± 6 km altitude (1.5 μbar pressure level), where the temperature increases by 15 K in only 6 km. This layer is close to an inversion layer observed
fourteen months later by the Huygens HASI instrument during the entry of the probe in Titan's atmosphere on 14 January 2005
[Fulchignoni et al., 2005]. Central flashes observed during the first occultation provide constraints on the zonal wind regime
at 250 km, with a strong northern jet (∼200 m s−1) around the latitude 55°N, wind velocities of ∼150 m s−1 near the equator, and progressively weaker winds as more southern latitudes are probed. The haze distribution around Titan's
limb at 250 km altitude is close to that predicted by the Global Circulation Model of Rannou et al. (2004) in the southern
hemisphere, but a clearing north of 40°N is necessary to explain our data. This contrasts with Rannou et al.'s (2004) model,
which predicts a very thick polar hood over Titan's northern polar regions. Simultaneous observations of the flashes at various
wavelengths provide a dependence of τ 
λ
−q
, with q = 1.8 ± 0.5 between 0.51 and 2.2 μm for the tangential optical depth of the hazes at 250 km altitude.
Received 26 October 2005; accepted 23 June 2006; published 18 November 2006.
Citation: (2006), The two Titan stellar occultations of 14 November 2003, J. Geophys. Res., 111, E11S91, doi:10.1029/2005JE002624.
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