Titan aerosol analog absorption features produced from aromatics in the far infrared

•We present the far-IR spectra of Titan-like aerosol made from aromatic compounds.•This is the first evidence of far-IR features below 200 cm−1 Titan aerosol analogs.•Incorporation of nitrogen into aerosols, leads to more intense IR features.

We present results on the formation of Titan aerosol analogs produced via far-UV irradiation of five aromatic precursors: benzene, naphthalene, pyridine, quinoline and isoquinoline. This is the first reported evidence of far-IR emission features observed below 200 cm−1 in laboratory-created Titan aerosols. These laboratory studies were motivated by recent analyses of Cassini Composite Infrared Spectrometer (CIRS) spectra that show a broad aerosol emission feature in the far-IR spectral region centered near 140 cm−1, which is unique to Titan’s photochemically-produced aerosol (Anderson, C.M., Samuelson, R.E. [2011]. Icarus 212, 762–778). We find that all three of the aerosol analogs formed from nitrogen-containing aromatics have similar broad emission features near that of the observed CIRS far-IR aerosol spectral feature. In addition, the inclusion of 1.5% methane to that of trace amounts of benzene also gives rise to an aerosol with a weak far-IR emission feature located below 200 cm−1.