ALMA Confirms Complex Chemistry in Titan’s Atmosphere
Posted: Fri Jul 28, 2017 7:50 pm
ALMA Confirms Complex Chemistry in Titan’s Atmosphere:
Saturn’s Moon Offers Glimpse of Earth’s Primordial Past
ALMA | NRAO | ESO | NAOJ | 2017 Jul 28
NASA Finds Moon of Saturn Has Chemical That Could Form ‘Membranes’
NASA | Goddard Space Flight Center | 2017 Jul 28
ALMA detection and astrobiological potential of vinyl cyanide on Titan - Maureen Y. Palmer et al
Saturn’s Moon Offers Glimpse of Earth’s Primordial Past
ALMA | NRAO | ESO | NAOJ | 2017 Jul 28
Saturn’s frigid moon Titan has a curious atmosphere. In addition to a hazy mixture of nitrogen and hydrocarbons, like methane and ethane, Titan’s atmosphere also contains an array of more complex organic molecules, including vinyl cyanide, which astronomers recently uncovered in archival ALMA data. Under the right conditions, like those found on the surface of Titan, vinyl cyanide may naturally coalesce into microscopic spheres resembling cell membranes.
[c]Saturn’s largest moon, Titan, is one of our solar system’s most intriguing and Earth-like bodies. It is nearly as large as Mars and has a hazy atmosphere made up mostly of nitrogen with a smattering of organic, carbon-based molecules, including methane (CH4) and ethane (C2H6). Planetary scientists theorize that this chemical make-up is similar to Earth’s primordial atmosphere.
Archival ALMA data have confirmed that molecules of vinyl cyanide
reside in the atmosphere of Titan, Saturn's largest moon. In a liquid
methane environment, vinyl cyanide may form membranes.
Credit: NRAO Education and Public Outreach (NRAO/AUI/NSF);
Cassini Imaging Team; NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSI/JHUAPL/Univ. of Arizona;
Music by Getty Images[/c][hr][/hr]
The conditions on Titan, however, are not conducive to the formation of life as we know it; it’s simply too cold. At ten times the distance from the Earth to the Sun, Titan is so cold that liquid methane rains onto its solid icy surface, forming rivers, lakes, and seas.
These pools of hydrocarbons, however, create a unique environment that may help molecules of vinyl cyanide (C2H3CN) link together to form membranes, features resembling the lipid-based cell membranes of living organisms on Earth.
Astronomers using archival data from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), which was collected over a series of observations from February to May 2014, have found compelling evidence that molecules of vinyl cyanide are indeed present on Titan and in significant quantities. ...
NASA Finds Moon of Saturn Has Chemical That Could Form ‘Membranes’
NASA | Goddard Space Flight Center | 2017 Jul 28
ALMA detection and astrobiological potential of vinyl cyanide on Titan - Maureen Y. Palmer et al
- Science Advances 3(7):e1700022 (28 Jul 2017) DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.1700022