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E. Lellouch (Obs. de Paris, France)
A wealth of observations of Titan's atmosphere have been acquired since July 2004 by the Cassini spacecraft and during the Huygens entry and descent on January 14, 2005. Complemented with Earth-based observations obtained in the last decade, they provide us with a new view of Titan's atmosphere, with essential results on its thermal, compositional, and dynamical aspects. These results and their preliminary interpretations outline the strong couplings between the various elements of Titan's complex atmospheric system. We will review the progress accomplished in these various areas. Outstanding new results (non-exhaustingly) include (i) measurements of Titan's thermal profile and methane abundance from the ground to the exosphere (ii) measurements of winds from the surface to the mesosphere by a variety of techniques (iii) in situ determination of haze parameters (particle size and vertical distribution) (iv) abundant evidence for wave activity (v) evidence for different kinds of clouds (vi) measurement of vertical and horizontal profiles of several chemical and dynamical tracers, with implications on atmospheric mixing and escape (vi) first compositional measurements in Titan's ionosphere.
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Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 37 #3
© 2004. The American Astronomical Soceity.