Connotea
CiteULike
del.ico.us
BibSonomyAbstract
Discovery of heavy negative ions in Titan's ionosphere
Mullard Space Science Laboratory, University College London, Dorking, UK
Centre for Planetary Sciences, University College London, London, UK
Space Science and Engineering Division, Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, Texas, USA
Mullard Space Science Laboratory, University College London, Dorking, UK
Centre for Planetary Sciences, University College London, London, UK
Space Science and Engineering Division, Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, Texas, USA
Space Science and Engineering Division, Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, Texas, USA
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, USA
Titan's ionosphere contains a rich positive ion population including organic molecules. Here, using CAPS electron spectrometer data from sixteen Titan encounters, we reveal the existence of negative ions. These ions, with densities up to ∼100 cm−3, are in mass groups of 10–30, 30–50, 50–80, 80–110, 110–200 and 200+ amu/charge. During one low encounter, negative ions with mass per charge as high as 10,000 amu/q are seen. Due to their unexpectedly high densities at ∼950 km altitude, these negative ions must play a key role in the ion chemistry and they may be important in the formation of organic-rich aerosols (tholins) eventually falling to the surface.
Received 21 June 2007; accepted 19 October 2007; published 28 November 2007.
Citation: (2007), Discovery of heavy negative ions in Titan's ionosphere, Geophys. Res. Lett., 34, L22103, doi:10.1029/2007GL030978.
Cited By