High Spatial and Spectral Resolution Images of Titan at Infrared Wavelenths: Observations and Analysis

University Of California-Berkeley, Berkeley CA

Investigators

Abstract

AST 0205893 dePater Dr. Imke dePater, of the University of California at Berkeley, will direct a program of ground-based high resolution imaging, spectroscopy, and modeling of Titan. The program will use some of the world's largest optical/infrared telescopes, the 10-m Keck Observatory and the 8-m Gemini Telescope, to obtain diffraction-limited images of Titan in narrow band filters between 1 and 2.5 micron wavelength. To investigate Titan's atmosphere and surface in even greater detail, Dr. dePater and her team will obtain spectral image datacubes of Titan using the near-infrared spectrometer NIR-SPEC together with the Keck Adaptive Optics system. Spectra of Titan will not immediately reveal surface composition, since sunlight reflected from the surface will in part be absorbed by methane gas (as well as other absorbers) in Titan's atmosphere, and will undergo scattering by haze particles. Since Titan's surface albedo varies significantly across its surface, a single observation of Titan does not give the necessary constraints to determine the atmospheric haze and methane cloud distribution and properties. To better constrain Titan's atmosphere and surface, this team will observe the same surface features through multiple atmospheric paths. In parallel the team will develop advanced models of Titan's atmosphere, to simultaneously extract surface reflectance spectra and the vertical haze distribution as a function of location on Titan's disk. To better understand the formation and removal processes of the atmospheric haze particles, as well as their chemical and physical properties, this group will complement the data with observations at mid-infrared wavelengths, sensitive to Titan's high-altitude hazes and various hydrocarbon gases. ***