The origin of Titan's atmosphere: some recent advances

It is possible to make a consistent story for the origin of Titan's atmosphere starting with the birth of Titan in the Saturn subnebula. If we use comet nuclei as a model, Titan's nitrogen and methane could have easily been delivered by the ice that makes up approximately 50 per cent of it...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series A: Mathematical, physical, and engineering sciences physical, and engineering sciences, 2009-02, Vol.367 (1889), p.607-615
Main Authors: Owen, Tobias, Niemann, H.B
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Atmosphere
Comets
Composition
Deuterium
Ice
Methane
Nitrogen
Noble Gases
Origin
Planetesimals
Review
Saturn
Saturnian satellites
Solar nebulae
Titan atmosphere
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Summary:It is possible to make a consistent story for the origin of Titan's atmosphere starting with the birth of Titan in the Saturn subnebula. If we use comet nuclei as a model, Titan's nitrogen and methane could have easily been delivered by the ice that makes up approximately 50 per cent of its mass. If Titan's atmospheric hydrogen is derived from that ice, it is possible that Titan and comet nuclei are in fact made of the same protosolar ice. The noble gas abundances are consistent with relative abundances found in the atmospheres of Mars and Earth, the Sun, and the meteorites.
ISSN:1364-503X
1471-2962
DOI:10.1098/rsta.2008.0247