Faculty Publications

Document Type

Article

Publication Version

Published Version

Keywords

infrared spectroscopy, laboratory, mass spectrometry, photochemistry, tholin, Triton

Journal/Book/Conference Title

Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets

Volume

127

Issue

1

Abstract

Triton is the largest moon of the Neptune system and possesses a thin nitrogen atmosphere with trace amounts of carbon monoxide and methane, making it of similar composition to that of the dwarf planet Pluto. Like Pluto and Saturn's moon Titan, Triton has a haze layer thought to be composed of organics formed through photochemistry. Here, we perform atmospheric chamber experiments of 0.5% CO and 0.2% CH4 in N2 at 90 K and 1 mbar to generate Triton haze analogs. We then characterize the physical and chemical properties of these particles. We measure their production rate, their bulk composition with combustion analysis, their molecular composition with very high resolution mass spectrometry, and their transmission and reflectance from the optical to the near-infrared with Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) Spectroscopy. We compare these properties to existing measurements of Triton's tenuous atmosphere and surface, as well as contextualize these results in view of all the small, hazy, nitrogen-rich worlds of our solar system. We find that carbon monoxide present at greater mixing ratios than methane in the atmosphere can lead to significantly oxygen- and nitrogen-rich haze materials. These Triton haze analogs have clear observable signatures in their near-infrared spectra, which may help us differentiate the mechanisms behind haze formation processes across diverse solar system bodies.

Department

Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry

Original Publication Date

1-1-2022

Object Description

1 PDF file

DOI of published version

10.1029/2021JE006984

Repository

UNI ScholarWorks, Rod Library, University of Northern Iowa

Copyright

©2022 The Authors. Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License

Language

en

File Format

application/pdf

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