2017 Research in the Capitol

Presentation Type

Open Access Poster Presentation

Keywords

Titan (Satellite)--Atmosphere;

Abstract

Titan, a moon of Saturn, has a thick atmosphere made up of nitrogen and a few percent methane, with a surface pressure of 1.5x that of Earth. Titan’s atmosphere is believed to be that similar to that of early Earth before the rise of O2. One significant source of information on the history and evolution of the atmosphere is the measurement of stable isotopes of elements in the molecules of major gases such as nitrogen, methane, and higher order hydrocarbons. The fractionation associated with the formation of Titan aerosol analogs are explored in the laboratory as a function of environmental parameters. Gas mixtures were flowed into a reaction chamber, where they underwent UV-irradiation via a deuterium lamp. The resulting aerosol samples were collected and analyzed using isotope-ratio mass spectrometry (IRMS). This project focused on pyridine (C5H5N) and nitrogen mixtures, with and without methane, as a function of pressure.

Start Date

28-3-2017 11:30 AM

End Date

28-3-2017 1:30 PM

Event Host

University Honors Programs, Iowa Regent Universities

Faculty Advisor

Joshua Sebree

Department

Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry

Comments

Student was unable to attend the event.

File Format

application/pdf

Download

Comments?

Share

COinS
 
Mar 28th, 11:30 AM Mar 28th, 1:30 PM

Stable Isotope Chemistry in Titan Haze Aerosol

Titan, a moon of Saturn, has a thick atmosphere made up of nitrogen and a few percent methane, with a surface pressure of 1.5x that of Earth. Titan’s atmosphere is believed to be that similar to that of early Earth before the rise of O2. One significant source of information on the history and evolution of the atmosphere is the measurement of stable isotopes of elements in the molecules of major gases such as nitrogen, methane, and higher order hydrocarbons. The fractionation associated with the formation of Titan aerosol analogs are explored in the laboratory as a function of environmental parameters. Gas mixtures were flowed into a reaction chamber, where they underwent UV-irradiation via a deuterium lamp. The resulting aerosol samples were collected and analyzed using isotope-ratio mass spectrometry (IRMS). This project focused on pyridine (C5H5N) and nitrogen mixtures, with and without methane, as a function of pressure.