Microwave Measurements of Carbon Monoxide on Titan

Bimolecular reactions of CH2CN2+ with Ar, N2 and CO: reactivity and dynamics

The reactivity, energetics and dynamics of bimolecular reactions between CH₂CN²⁺ and three neutral species (Ar, N₂ and CO) have been studied using a position sensitive coincidence methodology at centre-of-mass collision energies of 4.3-5.0 eV. This is the first study of bimolecular reactions involving CH₂CN²⁺, a species relevant to the ionospheres of planets and satellites, including Titan. All of the collision systems investigated display two collision-induced dissociation (CID) channels, resulting in the formation of C⁺ + CH₂N⁺ and H⁺ + HC₂N⁺. Evidence for channels involving further dissociation of the CID product HC₂N⁺, forming H + CCN⁺, were detected in the N₂ and CO systems. Proton-transfer from the dication to the neutral species occurs in all three of the systems via a direct mechanism. Additionally, there are product channels resulting from single electron transfer following collisions of CH₂CN²⁺ with both N₂ and CO, but interestingly no electron transfer following collisions with Ar. Electronic structure calculations of the lowest energy electronic states of CH₂CN²⁺ reveal six local geometric minima: both doublet and quartet spin states for cyclic, linear (CH₂CN), and linear isocyanide (CH₂NC) molecular geometries. The lowest energy electronic state was determined to be the doublet state of the cyclic dication. The ready generation of C⁺ ions by collision-induced dissociation suggests that the cyclic or linear isocyanide dication geometries are present in the [CH₂CN]²⁺ beam.

Ab initio investigation of the CO-N2 quantum scattering: The collisional perturbation of the pure rotational R(0) line in CO

We report fully quantum calculations of the collisional perturbation of a molecular line for a system that is relevant for Earth's atmosphere. We consider the N₂-perturbed pure rotational R(0) line in CO. The results agree well with the available experimental data. This work constitutes a significant step toward populating the spectroscopic databases with ab initio collisional line-shape parameters for atmosphere-relevant systems. The calculations were performed using three different recently reported potential energy surfaces (PESs). We conclude that all three PESs lead to practically the same values of the pressure broadening coefficients.

Radar Reflectivity of Titan

The present understanding of the atmosphere and surface conditions on Saturn's largest moon, Titan, including the stability of methane, and an application of thermodynamics leads to a strong prediction of liquid hydrocarbons in an ethane-methane mixture on the surface. Such a surface would have nearly unique microwave reflection properties due to the low dielectric constant. Attempts were made to obtain reflections at a wavelength of 3.5 centimeters by means of a 70-meter antenna in California as the transmitter and the Very Large Array in New Mexico as the receiving instrument. Statistically significant echoes were obtained that show Titan is not covered with a deep, global ocean of ethane, as previously thought. The experiment yielded radar cross sections normalized by the Titan disk of 0.38 +/- 0.15, 0.78 +/- 0.15, and 0.25 +/- 0.15 on three consecutive nights during which the sub-Earth longitude on Titan moved 50 degrees. The result for the combined data for the entire experiment is 0.35 +/- 0.08. The cross sections are very high, most consistent with those of the Galilean satellites; no evidence of the putative liquid ethane was seen in the reflection data. A global ocean as shallow as about 200 meters would have exhibited reflectivities smaller by an order of magnitude, and below the detection limit of the experiment. The measured emissivity at similar wavelengths of about 0.9 is somewhat inconsistent with the high reflectivity.

Estimation of the reaction rate for the formation of CH3O from H + H2CO: implications for chemistry in the Solar System

It is argued that the formation of the methoxy radical (CH3O) from H + H2CO may play an essential role in the reduction of CO to CH4. The rate coefficient for this reaction has been estimated using the approximate theory of J. Troe (1977a, J. Chem. Phys. 66, 4745) and transition state theory. We briefly discuss the implications of this reaction for the chemistry of CO on Jupiter, in the solar nebula, for interpreting the laboratory experiments of A. Bar-Nun and A. Shaviv (1975, Icarus 24, 197) and A. Bar-Nun and S. Chang (1983, J. Geophys. Res. 88, 6662) and for organic synthesis in the prebiotic terrestrial atmosphere.

Search for organic molecules in the outer solar system

Recent developments of millimeter astronomy have led to the discovery of more and more complex molecules in the interstellar medium. In a similar way, attempts have been made to detect complex molecules in the atmospheres of the most primitive bodies of the Solar System, i.e. outer planets and comets, as well as in Titan's atmosphere. An important progress has been achieved thanks to the continuous development of infrared astronomy, from the ground and from space vehicles. In particular, an important contribution has come from the IRIS-Voyager infrared spectrometer with the detection of prebiotic molecules on Titan, and some complex organic molecules on Jupiter and Saturn. Another important result has been the observation of carbonaceous material in the immediate surroundings of Comet Halley's nucleus. In the near future, the search for organic molecules in the outer Solar System should benefit from the developments of large millimeter antennae, and in the next decade, from the operation of infrared Earth-orbiting spacecrafts (ISO, SIRTF).