The DOI matches its Crossref record; 28 of the 29 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Complex organic matter in Titan's atmospheric aerosols from in situ pyrolysis and analysis
Abstract
Aerosols in Titan's atmosphere play an important role in determining its thermal structure. They also serve as sinks for organic vapours and can act as condensation nuclei for the formation of clouds, where the condensation efficiency will depend on the chemical composition of the aerosols. So far, however, no direct information has been available on the chemical composition of these particles. Here we report an in situ chemical analysis of Titan's aerosols by pyrolysis at 600 degrees C. Ammonia (NH3) and hydrogen cyanide (HCN) have been identified as the main pyrolysis products. This clearly shows that the aerosol particles include a solid organic refractory core. NH3 and HCN are gaseous chemical fingerprints of the complex organics that constitute this core, and their presence demonstrates that carbon and nitrogen are in the aerosols.
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“The particles deposited on the surface are therefore made of a refractory organic nucleus, composed mainly of C, N and H atoms, covered with volatile organic compounds also made of C, N and H atoms (Israël et al. 2005).”
From The Emergence of Life (2019) · cites this paper as Israël et al. 2005
Citations
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Metadata
- Authors
- Israël, G., Szopa, C., Raulin, F., Cabane, M., Niemann, H. B., Atreya, S. K., Bauer, S. J., Brun, J.-F., Chassefière, E., Coll, P., Condé, E., Coscia, D., Hauchecorne, A., Millian, P., Nguyen, M.-J., Owen, T., Riedler, W., Samuelson, R. E., Siguier, J.-M., Steller, M., Sternberg, R., & Vidal-Madjar, C.
- Affiliations
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
- Goddard Space Flight Center (US)
- University of Michigan (US)
- University of Graz (AT)
- Centre National d'Études Spatiales (FR)
- Office National d'Études et de Recherches Aérospatiales (FR)
- University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (US)
- Space Research Institute (AT)
- University of Maryland, College Park (US)
- Austrian Academy of Sciences (AT)
- Corresponding author
- Israël, G.
- ORCID
- Venue
- Nature
- Published
- 2005-11-30
- Volume
- 438
- Issue
- 7069
- Pages
- 796-799
- ISSN
- 0028-0836 (ISSN-L)
- 1476-4687
- OpenAlex
- W2101203985
- Cited by
- 256
- References
- 29
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 12 · 2022: 9 · 2021: 10 · 2020: 13 · 2019: 32 · 2018: 12 · 2017: 10 · 2016: 7 · 2015: 11 · 2014: 19 · 2013: 15 · 2012: 17
- FWCI
- 6.78
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Licence
- www.springer.com/tdm (tdm)
- Locations
- Nature (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- HAL (submittedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- Deep Blue (University of Michigan) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
- Office National d'études et de Recherches Aérospatiales
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Space and Planetary Science › Astro and Planetary Science
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Atmospheric Science › Atmospheric chemistry and aerosols
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Space and Planetary Science › Planetary Science and Exploration
- Keywords
- Titan, atmospheric aerosols, complex organic matter, in-situ pyrolysis, ammonia, hydrogen cyanide, Huygens probe, cryovolcanism
- MeSH terms
- Aerosols, Ammonia, Atmosphere, Carbon, Extraterrestrial Environment, Gases, Hot Temperature, Hydrogen Cyanide, Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry, Nitrogen, Organic Chemicals, Saturn
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