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T. Kostiuk (NASA GSFC), T.A. Livengood (USRA NCSEFSE), G. Sonnabend (NAS/NRC , NASA GSFC), T. Hewagama (U MD), K. Fast, J. Annen (NASA GSFC), A. Tokunaga (U HI), K. Murakawa (MPIfR), F. Schmülling (U Koeln)
Results from recent analyses of regional wind fields on Titan will be presented. Comparison of retrieved winds from infrared heterodyne measurements at the 3-meter NASA IRTF (1993-1996) and from the 8.2-meter Subaru telescope of the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (Dec. 2003, Jan. 14-15 2005) will be made. Wind fields were determined from Doppler shifts of 11.7 micron ethane emission lines from Titan's stratosphere, measured at \lambda/\delta\lambda = 1,000,000 resolving power using pre-Cassini Huygens atmospheric models and available ethane molecular line parameters (line intensities, frequencies, and identities). Prograde wind velocities of ~ 200 m/s were retrieved at ~ 200 km altitudes. These data will be reanalyzed using Titan's near-equatorial thermal profile retrieved from Cassini CIRS measurements and ethane line intensities and frequencies, including weaker and ``hot" band transitions, retrieved from recent laboratory spectroscopic studies at comparable spectral resolution. A discussion will be presented on the measurements made around the period of Huygens descent and what the obtained unexpected spectral shapes tell us about the wind structure on Titan.
This work is supported by the NASA Planetary Astronomy Program.
The author(s) of this abstract have provided an email address for comments about the abstract: kostiuk@gsfc.nasa.gov
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Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 37 #3
© 2004. The American Astronomical Soceity.