Chemistry in Titan's Atmosphere
Titan is one of the primary scientific interests of the Cassini-Huygens mission. Through observations by Earth based telescopes and the Voyager spacecraft, Titan has been revealed to be an intriguing world both similar in nature to Earth and unique among both satellites and terrestrial planets. The largest of Saturn's satellites, Titan is larger than the planets Mercury or Pluto. Titan is the only satellite in the solar system with an appreciable atmosphere. Like Earth's atmosphere, Tita's atmosphere is composed mostly of nitrogen, yet appears to have few clouds. However, it also contains significant quantities of aerosols and organic compounds (hydrocarbons), including methane and ethane. Titan’s peak surface temperature is about 95 Kelvins, too cold for liquid water, and due to its thick atmosphere, the pressure at the surface is 1.6 times greater than Earth’s atmosphere. At this temperature and pressure, chemicals such as methane, ethane, propane, ammonia, water-ice and acetylene may be involved in complex interior-surface-atmosphere chemical cycles resulting in eruptions, condensation and precipation (or rain).