The fate of ethane in Titan's hydrocarbon lakes and seas

Ethane is expected to be the dominant photochemical product on Titan's surface and, in the absence of a process that sequesters it from exposed surface reservoirs, a major constituent of its lakes and seas. Absorption of Cassini's 2.2 cm radar by Ligeia Mare however suggests that this north polar sea is dominated by methane. In order to explain this apparent ethane deficiency, we explore the possibility that Ligeia Mare is the visible part of an alkanofer that interacted with an underlying clathrate layer and investigate the influence of this interaction on an assumed initial ethane-methane mixture in the liquid phase. We find that progressive liquid entrapment in clathrate allows the surface liquid reservoir to become methane-dominated for any initial ethane mole fraction below 0.75. If interactions between alkanofers and clathrates are common on Titan, this should lead to the emergence of many methane-dominated seas or lakes.Comment: Accepted for publication in Icaru

Photometry of Kuiper belt object (486958) Arrokoth from New Horizons LORRI

On January 1st 2019, the New Horizons spacecraft flew by the classical Kuiper belt object (486958) Arrokoth (provisionally designated 2014 MU69), possibly the most primitive object ever explored by a spacecraft. The I/F of Arrokoth is analyzed and fit with a photometric function that is a linear combination of the Lommel-Seeliger (lunar) and Lambert photometric functions. Arrokoth has a geometric albedo of p_v = 0.21_(−0.04)^(+0.05) at a wavelength of 550 nm and ≈0.24 at 610 nm. Arrokoth's geometric albedo is greater than the median but consistent with a distribution of cold classical Kuiper belt objects whose geometric albedos were determined by fitting a thermal model to radiometric observations. Thus, Arrokoth's geometric albedo adds to the orbital and spectral evidence that it is a cold classical Kuiper belt object. Maps of the normal reflectance and hemispherical albedo of Arrokoth are presented. The normal reflectance of Arrokoth's surface varies with location, ranging from ≈0.10–0.40 at 610 nm with an approximately Gaussian distribution. Both Arrokoth's extrema dark and extrema bright surfaces are correlated to topographic depressions. Arrokoth has a bilobate shape and the two lobes have similar normal reflectance distributions: both are approximately Gaussian, peak at ≈0.25 at 610 nm, and range from ≈0.10–0.40, which is consistent with co-formation and co-evolution of the two lobes. The hemispherical albedo of Arrokoth varies substantially with both incidence angle and location, the average hemispherical albedo at 610 nm is 0.063 ± 0.015. The Bond albedo of Arrokoth at 610 nm is 0.062 ± 0.015

Photometry of Kuiper belt object (486958) Arrokoth from New Horizons LORRI

On January 1st 2019, the New Horizons spacecraft flew by the classical Kuiper belt object (486958) Arrokoth (provisionally designated 2014 MU69), possibly the most primitive object ever explored by a spacecraft. The I/F of Arrokoth is analyzed and fit with a photometric function that is a linear combination of the Lommel-Seeliger (lunar) and Lambert photometric functions. Arrokoth has a geometric albedo of p_v = 0.21_(−0.04)^(+0.05) at a wavelength of 550 nm and ≈0.24 at 610 nm. Arrokoth's geometric albedo is greater than the median but consistent with a distribution of cold classical Kuiper belt objects whose geometric albedos were determined by fitting a thermal model to radiometric observations. Thus, Arrokoth's geometric albedo adds to the orbital and spectral evidence that it is a cold classical Kuiper belt object. Maps of the normal reflectance and hemispherical albedo of Arrokoth are presented. The normal reflectance of Arrokoth's surface varies with location, ranging from ≈0.10–0.40 at 610 nm with an approximately Gaussian distribution. Both Arrokoth's extrema dark and extrema bright surfaces are correlated to topographic depressions. Arrokoth has a bilobate shape and the two lobes have similar normal reflectance distributions: both are approximately Gaussian, peak at ≈0.25 at 610 nm, and range from ≈0.10–0.40, which is consistent with co-formation and co-evolution of the two lobes. The hemispherical albedo of Arrokoth varies substantially with both incidence angle and location, the average hemispherical albedo at 610 nm is 0.063 ± 0.015. The Bond albedo of Arrokoth at 610 nm is 0.062 ± 0.015

Dynamic Phenomena In The Lakes And Seas Of Titan

Earth and Titan are unique in the Solar System as the only planetary bodies with active hydrologic cycles that include reservoirs of stable, surface liquid. Titan's lakes and seas are primarily composed of methane, ethane, and nitrogen. The buoyancy of frozen solids in these ternary systems is studied. Assuming thermodynamic equilibrium, it is found that frozen solids will float in methane-rich systems for all temperatures below the freezing point. Frozen solids in ethanerich systems will float if the solid has an air porosity of greater than 10% by volume. For smaller porosities, the buoyancy of the solid in ethane-rich systems changes with temperature and this temperature dependence may result in seasonal oscillations that are unique to Titan. These results have implications for the climatology, geology, and habitability of Titan. Titan's methane hydrologic cycle has been observed to include exchange between the surface and atmospheric reservoirs that is driven by seasonal variation in the distribution of solar energy. Recently, as the summer season approaches in the northern hemisphere, where greater than 99% of Titan's liquids are located, the Cassini orbiter has detected anomalously bright features in the seas. These features are unlikely to be SAR image artifacts or permanent geophysical structures and thus their appearance is the result of an ephemeral phenomenon on Titan. They are found to be more consistent with floating and/or suspended solids, bubbles, and waves than tides, sea level change, and seafloor change and based on the frequency of these phenomena in terrestrial settings, waves is considered to be the most probable hypothesis. Titan's northern seas are therefore not stagnant liquid bodies but environments where dynamic processes occur. The timing of their appearance suggests that these transients are an expression of the changing seasons

The case for seasonal surface changes at Titan’s lake district

International audienceTitan, Saturn’s largest moon, hosts lakes and seas of liquid hydrocarbons at its poles1. General circulation models demonstrate that regional evaporation and precipitation rates of methane are likely to change with the seasons (Titan’s year is 29.5 Earth years) and evolve on a geological timescale (~105 Earth years)2,3,4. Cassini observations suggest shoreline recession at a few south polar lakes during local summer5, but similar seasonal changes have yet to be observed at the north pole where lakes are larger and more numerous6,7. We present three ‘phantom lakes’ that appear to be north polar surface liquids in winter observations by Cassini RADAR but that are inconsistent with lakes in infrared images obtained up to seven years later, after vernal equinox, suggesting that the liquids were removed in between. If this were the case, the phantom lakes could be interpreted as shallow ponds, with either a pure methane composition or a regolith porous enough to remove the less volatile ethane. These phantom lakes provide observational constraints on removal timescales for surface liquids at Titan’s north pole. The location, size and longevity of surface liquid reservoirs affect sediment processing7, seasonal weather8, climate evolution9, and even, perhaps, their habitability10. As solubility of the possible non-polar mixtures is generally low, short-lived lakes might be nutrient-poor10 and thus have low astrobiological potential

The case for seasonal surface changes at Titan’s lake district

Titan, Saturn’s largest moon, hosts lakes and seas of liquid hydrocarbons at its poles. General circulation models demonstrate that regional evaporation and precipitation rates of methane are likely to change with the seasons (Titan’s year is 29.5 Earth years) and evolve on a geological timescale (~105 Earth years). Cassini observations suggest shoreline recession at a few south polar lakes during local summer, but similar seasonal changes have yet to be observed at the north pole where lakes are larger and more numerous6,7. We present three ‘phantom lakes’ that appear to be north polar surface liquids in winter observations by Cassini RADAR but that are inconsistent with lakes in infrared images obtained up to seven years later, after vernal equinox, suggesting that the liquids were removed in between. If this were the case, the phantom lakes could be interpreted as shallow ponds, with either a pure methane composition or a regolith porous enough to remove the less volatile ethane. These phantom lakes provide observational constraints on removal timescales for surface liquids at Titan’s north pole. The location, size and longevity of surface liquid reservoirs affect sediment processing, seasonal weather, climate evolution, and even, perhaps, their habitability. As solubility of the possible non-polar mixtures is generally low, short-lived lakes might be nutrient-poor and thus have low astrobiological potential

An Overview of the Bathymetry and Composition of Titan’s Hydrocarbon Seas from the Cassini RADAR Altimeter

International audienceThe Cassini RADAR’s altimetry mode has been successfully used for probing the depth and composition of Titan’s hydrocarbons seas. In May 2013, during the spacecraft’s 91stflyby of Titan (T91), the instrument demonstrates its capabilities as a radar sounder, presenting a unique opportunity to constrain direct measurements of the depth and composition of Titan’s second largest sea, Ligeia Mare. Later, observations of Kraken Mare and Punga Mare were planned and executed in August 2014 (T104) and January 2015 (T108), respectively. While most of the seafloor was not detected at Kraken, suggesting the sea was either too deep or too absorptive in these areas to observe a return from the seafloor, shallow areas near Moray Sinus did return subsurface detections. At Punga Mare, a clear detection of the subsurface was observed with a maximum depth of 120 m along the interrogated track of the sea. We will present an analysis of all three altimetric observations of Titan’s mare, as well a re-analysis of altimetry data acquired over southern Ontario Lacus. Depths measurements and liquid composition are obtained using a novel technique which makes use of radar simulations and Monte Carlo based inversions. Finally, we will show that the estimates obtained from the direct measurements described above can be used along with the RADAR’s active (i.e. Synthetic Aperture Radar) and passive (Radiometry) modes to generate bathymetry maps of areas not observed by altimetry