The Cassini-Huygens mission detected large negative ions in Titan’s ionosphere at pressures as low as 10−6 torr. These ions ultimately polymerize to form Titan’s complex organic haze particles, which are […]
![Seasonal distribution of methane clouds in Titan’s troposphere. (a) Latitudinal distribution of clouds observed from Cassini and ground-based observatories [6, 54, 105], overlain on the zonal-mean precipitation distribution averaged over 40 Titan years of a simulation with TAM [57]. Vertical dotted lines indicate the timing of solstices (northern winter solstice and northern summer solstice, NWS and NSS) and equinoxes (northern vernal equinox and northern autumnal equinox, NVE and NAE); thin contours denote isolines of diurnally averaged top-ofatmosphere insolation, and grey shaded regions denote latitudes and times of polar night. (b) A simplified illustration of the expected atmospheric circulation during late northern summer leading to upwelling at northern mid-latitudes, which promotes cloud formation there, as observed by JWST and Keck most recently (see Figs. 4 and 5). -- astro-ph.EP](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/The-Atmosphere-of-Titan-in-Late.png?resize=1200%2C718&ssl=1)
Saturn’s moon Titan undergoes a long annual cycle of 29.45 Earth years. Titan’s northern winter and spring were investigated in detail by the Cassini-Huygens spacecraft (2004-2017), but the northern summer […]
Saturn’s moon Titan is an enigmatic icy world whose surface is constantly modified by its active, Earthlike precipitation system. Here, we propose the Titan’s Hydrocarbons: Uncovering New Dimensions of Evolutionary […]
Southwest Research Institute partnered with the Carnegie Institution for Science to perform laboratory experiments to better understand how Saturn’s moon Titan can maintain its unique nitrogen-rich atmosphere.
Among the lines of evidence for a buried ocean on Titan is the possible detection, in 2005, by the Permittivity, Wave and Altimetry (PWA) analyzer on board the ESA Huygens […]
In this article I summarize the current state of knowledge about the composition of Titan’s atmosphere, and our current understanding of the suggested chemistry that leads to that observed composition.
Titan’s “magic islands” are likely floating chunks of porous, frozen organic solids, a new study finds, pivoting from previous work suggesting they were gas bubbles. The study was published in […]
The Saturnian moon Enceladus presents a unique opportunity to sample the contents of a subsurface liquid water ocean in situ via the continuous plume formed over its south polar terrain […]
The Cassini-Huygens mission provided unprecedented information regarding Enceladus’ surface and interior, including the discovery of a subsurface ocean and strong evidence for waterrock interactions, which could provide the physical and […]
