Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

Solar system

Not just a storm in a teacup

Nature volume 514, pages 40–41 (2014)Cite this article

Subjects

The cloud that emerged above the south pole of Saturn's moon Titan in 2012 has been found to consist of hydrogen cyanide particles. This unexpected result prompts fresh thinking about the atmosphere of this satellite. See Letter p.65

HCN is expected to condense in Titan's atmosphere at an altitude of 80 km; indeed, a nearly imperceptible tropical haze layer at this height matches the anticipated effects of HCN condensation4. By contrast, as discussed by de Kok and colleagues, the south polar HCN cloud emerged in the satellite's southern polar winter and resides in a region where, only three months earlier, the Cassini spacecraft's infrared spectrometer measured a temperature of 170 kelvin, which is 45 K too warm for HCN to condense5.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Get just this article for as long as you need it

$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Titan's south polar cloud.

Space Science Inst./JPL-Caltech/NASA

References

  1. West, R. A. et al. Abstr. 305.03 (AAS/Division for Planetary Sciences Meeting Abstracts, Vol. 45, 2013).

  2. de Kok, R. J. et al. Nature 514, 65–67 (2014).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Cruikshank, D. P. et al. Icarus 94, 345–353 (1991).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Lavvas, P., Griffith, C. A. & Yelle, R. V. Icarus 215, 732–750 (2011).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Vinatier, S. et al. Icarus (submitted).

  6. Trainer, M. G. et al. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 103, 18035–18042 (2006).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Yung, Y. L., Allen, M. & Pinto, J. P. Astrophys. J. Suppl. 55, 465–506 (1984).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Clark, R. N. et al. J. Geophys. Res. Planets 115, E10005 (2010).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  9. Rannou, P., Lebonnois, S., Hourdin, F. & Luz, D. Adv. Space Res. 36, 2194–2198 (2005).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Griffith, C. A. et al. Science 313, 1620–1622 (2006).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Le Mouélic, S. et al. Planet. Space Sci. 60, 86–92 (2012).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  12. Flasar, F. M. & Achterberg, R. K. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A 367, 649–664 (2009).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Hörst, S. M. et al. Astrobiology 12, 809–817 (2012).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  14. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA14920

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Caitlin A. Griffith is in the Department of Planetary Sciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 8521-0092, USA.,

    Caitlin A. Griffith

Authors
  1. Caitlin A. Griffith
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Caitlin A. Griffith.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Griffith, C. Not just a storm in a teacup. Nature 514, 40–41 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/514040a

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/514040a

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing