Cassini Spacecraft Reveals Evidence Of Tholin Formation At High Altitudes In Titan's Atmosphere

by Staff Writers
San Antonio TX (SPX) May 11, 2007
Scientists have long known that the lower atmosphere of Saturn's moon Titan contains organic aerosols, or tholins, formed from simple organic molecules, such as methane and nitrogen. Researchers had assumed these tholins formed at altitudes of several hundred kilometers, but new information gathered by three particle spectrometers aboard the Cassini spacecraft shows tholin formation happens in Titan's atmosphere at altitudes greater than 1,000 kilometers. The results also show tholins form differently than previously thought

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