# ALMA measurements of the HNC and HC3N distributions in Titan's atmosphere

M. A. Cordiner, C. A. Nixon, N. A. Teanby, P. G. J. Irwin, J. Serigano, S. B. Charnley, S. N. Milam, M. J. Mumma, D. C. Lis, G. Villanueva, L. Paganini, Y. -J. Kuan, A. J. Remijan

Research output: Contribution to journalArticle (Academic Journal)peer-review

29 Citations (Scopus)

## Abstract

We present spectrally and spatially-resolved maps of HNC and HC$_3$N emission from Titan's atmosphere, obtained using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) on 2013 November 17. These maps show anisotropic spatial distributions for both molecules, with resolved emission peaks in Titan's northern and southern hemispheres. The HC$_3$N maps indicate enhanced concentrations of this molecule over the poles, consistent with previous studies of Titan's photochemistry and atmospheric circulation. Differences between the spectrally-integrated flux distributions of HNC and HC$_3$N show that these species are not co-spatial. The observed spectral line shapes are consistent with HNC being concentrated predominantly in the mesosphere and above (at altitudes $z\gtrsim 400$ km), whereas HC$_3$N is abundant at a broader range of altitudes ($z\approx70$-600 km). From spatial variations in the HC$_3$N line profile, the locations of the HC$_3$N emission peaks are shown to be variable as a function of altitude. The peaks in the integrated emission from HNC and the line core (upper-atmosphere) component of HC$_3$N (at $z\gtrsim300$ km) are found to be asymmetric with respect to Titan's polar axis, indicating that the mesosphere may be more longitudinally-variable than previously thought. The spatially-integrated HNC and HC$_3$N spectra are modeled using the NEMESIS planetary atmosphere code and the resulting best-fitting disk-averaged vertical mixing ratio (VMR) profiles are found to be in reasonable agreement with previous measurements for these species. Vertical column densities of the best-fitting gradient models for HNC and HC$_3$N are $1.9\times10^{13}$ cm$^{-2}$ and $2.3\times10^{14}$ cm$^{-2}$, respectively.
Original language English L30 1-6 6 Astrophysical Journal Letters 795 2 https://doi.org/10.1088/2041-8205/795/2/L30 Published - 22 Oct 2014

• astro-ph.EP

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• ### Nick Teanby's Leverhulme Prize

Teanby, N. A.

1/03/111/03/14

Project: Research

• ### Mars and Titan's atmosphere and interior

Teanby, N. A.

1/07/101/10/13

Project: Research