Oral Presentation

High Spectral and Spatial Resolution, Broad Bandwidth Imaging of Titan's Atmosphere using the SMA

Author(s): Mark Gurwell (CfA), Emmanuel Lellouch, Raphael Moreno, Sandrine Vinatier (ObsPM), Bryan Butler (NRAO), Arielle Moullet (USRA)

Presenter: Mark Gurwell (Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian)

To showcase the capability of the SMA for observing at high spectral and spatial resolution over very broad bandwidths, we undertook an imaging line survey of Titan in the 1.1mm band. Observations were obtained throughout June 2019 in VEX configuration, with 32 GHz of continuous bandwidth (associated COM tracks are currently pending). The combined observations achieve 0.4" resolution, allowing imaging of the atmosphere of Titan (0.9" diameter at 500 km grazing altitude). Titan's atmosphere contains many nitrile and organic compounds, and these observations seek to detect and measure the vertical and spatial distribution of several of these molecular species as well as N and C isotopic ratios in the stronger nitriles.