Laboratory measurements and methane photochemistry modeling

Methane is photolyzed by the solar UV in the stratosphere of Saturn. Subsequent photochemistry leads to the production of acetylene (C2H2) and diacetylene (C4H2). These species are produced where it is relatively warm (T is greater than or equal to 140 K), but the tropopause temperature of Saturn (approximately 80 K) is low enough that these two species may freeze out to their respective ices. Numerical models which include both photochemistry and condensation loss make predictions about the mixing ratios of these species and haze production rates. These models are dependent upon knowing reaction pathways and their associated kinetic reaction rate constants and vapor pressures. How uncertainties in the chemistry and improvements in the vapor pressures affect model predictions for Saturn are discussed

Cloud Condensation in Titan's Lower Stratosphere

A 1-D condensation model is developed for the purpose of reproducing ice clouds in Titan's lower stratosphere observed by the Composite Infrared Spectrometer (CIRS) onboard Cassini. Hydrogen cyanide (HCN), cyanoacetylene (HC3N), and ethane (C2H6) vapors are treated as chemically inert gas species that flow from an upper boundary at 500 km to a condensation sink near Titan's tropopause (-45 km). Gas vertical profiles are determined from eddy mixing and a downward flux at the upper boundary. The condensation sink is based upon diffusive growth of the cloud particles and is proportional to the degree of supersaturation in the cloud formation regIOn. Observations of the vapor phase abundances above the condensation levels and the locations and properties of the ice clouds provide constraints on the free parameters in the model. Vapor phase abundances are determined from CIRS mid-IR observations, whereas cloud particle sizes, altitudes, and latitudinal distributions are derived from analyses of CIRS far-IR observations of Titan. Specific cloud constraints include: I) mean particle radii of2-3 J.lm inferred from the V6 506 cm- band of HC3N, 2) latitudinal abundance distributions of condensed nitriles, inferred from a composite emission feature that peaks at 160/cm , and 3) a possible hydrocarbon cloud layer at high latitudes, located near an altitude of 60 km, which peaks between 60 and 80 cm l . Nitrile abundances appear to diminish substantially at high northern latitudes over the time period 2005 to 2010 (northern mid winter to early spring). Use of multiple gas species provides a consistency check on the eddy mixing coefficient profile. The flux at the upper boundary is the net column chemical production from the upper atmosphere and provides a constraint on chemical pathways leading to the production of these compounds. Comparison of the differing lifetimes, vapor phase transport, vapor phase loss rate, and particle sedimentation, sheds light on temporal stability of the clouds

Stratospheric aerosols from CH 4 photochemistry on Neptune

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/95495/1/grl4442.pd

Neptune's deep atmosphere revealed

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/94842/1/grl4440.pd

The Proper Motion of SgrA*: I. First VLBA Results

We observed Sgr A* and two extragalactic radio sources nearby in angle with the VLBA over a period of two years and measured relative positions with an accuracy approaching 0.1 mas. The apparent proper motion of Sgr A* relative to J1745-283 is 5.90 +/- 0.4 mas/yr, almost entirely in the plane of the Galaxy. The effects of the orbit of the Sun around the Galactic Center can account for this motion, and any residual proper motion of Sgr A*, with respect to extragalactic sources, is less than about 20 km/s. Assuming that Sgr A* is at rest at the center of the Galaxy, we estimate that the circular rotation speed in the Galaxy at the position of the Sun is 219 +/- 20 km/s, scaled by Ro/8.0 kpc. Current observations are consistent with Sgr A* containing all of the nearly 2.6 x 10^6 solar masses, deduced from stellar proper motions, in the form of a massive black hole. While the low luminosity of Sgr A*, for example, might possibly have come from a contact binary containing of order 10 solar masses, the lack of substantial motion rules out a "stellar" origin for Sgr A*. The very slow speed of Sgr A* yields a lower limit to the mass of Sgr A* of about 1,000 solar masses. Even for this mass, Sgr A* appears to be radiating at less than 0.1 percent of its Eddington limit