Escape velocity from Titan

Size and mass:

Radius ~ 0.4 R_earth.
Mass ~ 0.02 M_earth.

This gives v² ~ 0.02/0.4 * v²_earth ~ 0.05 * v²_earth. Thus it should be hard for Titan to have an atmosphere. Note that the Galilean moons of Jupiter, with similar sizes and masses, do not have appreciable atmospheres.

ASTR 121 Home

Davison E. Soper, Institute of Theoretical Science, University of Oregon, Eugene OR 97403 USA soper@bovine.uoregon.edu