Titan's Atmosphere in the Pre-Cassini Decade: Establishing Long-Term Behavior from HST and Ground-Based/AO Observations

艾略特·杨博士研究项目的主要目标是绘制土卫六上不断变化的雾霾和甲烷分布，这是哈勃太空望远镜（HST）过去十年的观测非常适合的任务。第二个目标是确定土卫六大气中甲烷和雾霾的单独分布，为此，杨博士将使用ccd波长HST和近红外地面图像的协同组合。这个目标解决了土卫六对流层中云的形成和甲烷的明显过饱和的问题。同样，杨博士还将使用乙烷云形成的微物理模型来解释从HST和Keck自适应光学图像中提取的垂直雾霾和甲烷剖面。空间分辨率成像的长基线将直接解决土卫六大气层如何经历季节变化的问题。这个项目的结果将为即将到来的卡西尼号和惠更斯号宇宙飞船任务提供有价值的背景；现有云和雾霾形成和输送模式的观测试验；以及土卫六对流层演化条件的观测证据，特别是甲烷的过饱和、对流的条件和云形成的条件

AST 0206390YoungThe primary goal of Dr. Eliot Young's research project is to map Titan's evolving haze and methane distributions, a task for which the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) observations of the past decade are well suited. A second goal is to determine the separate methane and haze distributions in Titan's atmosphere, for which Dr. Young will use a synergistic combination of CCD-wavelength HST and near-IR ground-based images. This goal addresses the questions of cloud formation and methane'sapparent supersaturation in Titan's troposphere. In a similar vein, Dr. Young will also use microphysical models of ethane cloud formation to interpret the vertical haze and methane profiles that will be extracted from HST and Keck adaptive optics images. A long baseline of spatially resolved imaging will directly address the questions of how Titan'satmosphere undergoes seasonal changes. The results of this project will provide a valuable context for the upcoming Cassini and Huygens spacecraft missions; observational tests for existing models of cloud and haze formation and transport; and observational evidence for the evolving conditions in Titan's troposphere, especially with respect to the supersaturation of methane, the conditions for convection, and the conditions for cloud formation.***