Using the Attack Large Millimeter / Submillimeter Array (ALMA), a team of scientists has identified a mysterious molecule in Titan’s atmosphere. It is called cyclopropanylidine (C.)3H.2), A simple carbon-based compound never seen before in this atmosphere. According to the team’s study published in Astronomical Journal, This molecule could be a harbinger of more complex compounds that could indicate potential life on Titan.
Similarly, his colleagues at the Institute for Earth and Space Exploration (Western Space) and its European Space Agency (ESA) at the University of Western Ontario. Catherine Nish found out that Titan has other chemicals that could be ingredients for exotic life forms. In his study, which appeared Astronomy and astrophysics, They present Cassini mission data that revealed the formation of impact craters on the surface of Titan.
The international team responsible for the discovery of cyclopropanylidin is NASA’s Solar System Exploration Division (SSED), the Universities Space Research Association (USRA), the Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics in Taipei, and multiple universities. They were led by Conor Nixon and Dr. Alexander Thalen, who were planetary scientific and postdoctoral fellows at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center (respectively).
The team used the ALMA Observatory in 2016 to study Titan. While looking at the light signatures collected by the ALMA they saw a spectra that indicated a strange chemical fingerprint. After searching through a database of all known atomic light signatures, Nixon identified it as cyclopropanylidane (C).3H.2). NASA said in a press release:
“When I realized I was looking at cyclopropanylidine, my first thought was, ‘Well, this is really unpredictable. Titan is unique in our solar system. It has proven to be a storehouse of new molecules. ”
In the past, scientists have c3H.2 There are clouds of gas and dust in various pockets throughout the galaxy, but only in the interstellar medium (ISM). In these regions, conditions are very cold and diffuse to facilitate chemical reactions. In any other environment, cyclopropanylidine easily reacts with other molecules to form various chemical compounds.
However, Nixon and his colleagues were able to detect small amounts of cyclopropanylidine around Titan as they examined the upper layers of the lunar atmosphere, where there are fewer other gases for C.3H.2 To interact with. Why this is possible for Saturn’s largest moon and no other bodies in the solar system is a mystery. But what he suggests could be even more significant.
Although C3H2 is not associated with modern biological reactions on Earth, it is an example of what is known as the “close-loop molecule”, which is important because they form backbone rings for the nucleobases of DNA and RNA – the two compounds that we We know it is the very building blocks of life.
Michael Malaska, who once worked in the pharmaceutical industry, decided to change careers and became a JPL planetary scientist so he could study things like Titan. As he explained, finding molecules like C3H.2 To see and install the big picture of Titan, you need to:
“It’s a very strange little molecule, so it doesn’t happen the kind of thing you learn in high school chemistry or undergraduate chemistry. Here on earth, nothing will happen that you are facing… every little piece and the part you can find can help put together a huge puzzle of all the things out there. ”
Another closed-loop molecule found in Titan’s atmosphere is benzene (c6H.6). Until now, benzene was considered to be the smallest unit of colored hydrocarbon molecules that could exist in the atmosphere – but that condition clearly goes to cyclopropanylidine. In addition, the cyclical nature of both molecules presents researchers with an additional branch of chemistry that could allow for the formation of DNA and RNA.
In any case, the role that these compounds play is definitely something to come Dragon Fly Can investigate missions. The mission is set to begin in 2027, and will feature a rotorcraft lander drone that will explore Titan’s atmosphere and surface to learn more about its rich prebiotic environment and organic chemistry. Among other things, the mission is tasked with answering whether Titan can actually support life on its surface and in its methane ponds.
This has been an issue of speculation and curiosity for decades, ever since Voyager 1 And 2 Space probes flew through the Saturn system in 1980 and 1981, respectively. While Cassini-Huygens The mission reached around Saturn in 2004, which was only observed by scientists. What I found in this mission was that despite being very cold, Titan was in some ways like clear earth.
For starters, it has a gait atmosphere (four times the ga ense like Earth) which is mainly composed of nitrogen. No other planet or moon in the solar system can claim that! Also, it has a methane cycle similar to the Earth’s water cycle, complete with lakes and rivers, surface evaporation, clouds and rain. There is also evidence that it may contain a submerged sea of salt water.
But the most interesting are the organic processes at work, where methane and other hydrocarbons in Titan’s atmosphere come into contact with solar radiation, break down and release a web of organic chemistry that can result in prebiotic surface conditions. This is what brought Titan to the top of the list of potential locations for NASA missions in search of past and present life in the solar system.
Rosalie Lopez, a senior research scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and a Titan expert, summed it up:
“We are trying to find out if Titan is worth living. So we want to know what compounds from the atmosphere reach the surface, and then, whether that material can reach the ocean below through the ice crust, because we think the ocean is where it should be. “
Another point of interest, which makes Titan such an attractive target for research, is the possibility that the molecules sitting on Titan’s surface could be similar to the formation of a barrier to the formation of life on Earth. About 8.8 billion to 1 billion years ago (during the Achinese ion), the Earth was a very different place, where the atmosphere was composed mainly of nitrogen, C.O.2, Methane and water vapor.
Basically, conditions on Earth during this period are thought to be similar to those of Titan today. Melissa Trainer, NASA’s Goddard astrobiologist, is the Deputy Principal Investigator of the Dragon Fly Mission and is the chief investigator of the main tool for analyzing Titan’s surface structure. As she suggested:
“We think of Titan as a real-life laboratory where the same chemistry of the ancient Earth can be seen when life was catching up here. We will find a molecule larger than C.3H.2, But we need to know what is happening in the atmosphere to understand the chemical reactions that make up complex organic molecules and precipitation on the surface. “
In the same vein, while studying the surface of Titan, Assistant Professor Catherine Nish and her colleagues at ESA also found something very interesting. In general, atmospheric processes bury Titan’s surface ice beneath thick layers of organic matter, especially around the lunar arid equator. This material behaves exactly like sand and when high winds come dust storms and d-throats are formed.
Fortunately, there are places where surface ice can peek and scientists can study it and learn more about its composition. The higher latitudes on Titan, for example, are subject to more rain, which leads to surface currents that cut through the sand. Beyond that, there are impact craters created by surface-hitting objects, exposing the relatively fresh ice in Titan’s crust. As Nishe explained:
“It simply came to our notice then. There is no other place in the solar system like Titan. There is nowhere more sand than area on Titan. And Titan is the weather. It is not unlike the earth in that way. It’s just that the ingredients are all wrong. It has methane rain and cut currents on its surface and blowing organic sand around. He is still as active as he is here on earth. “
Unfortunately, it is difficult to do well on the surface due to Titan’s ganse atmosphere. But after examining the data obtained by CassiniWith the Visible and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS), Nish and his colleagues were able to get a clear view of the three performance craters in Titan’s equatorial region and its mid-latitude region.
What they found was that the equatorial pits of the pits at Selk, KSA, Guabonito, and the fecula of Centauri were found to be made entirely of dark organic matter. The mid-latitude craters of Afiken, Soi, Forsetti, Menerva and Sinlap have been found to be rich in water ice and organic matter. They were also able to determine that none of the ice they saw contained ammonia (NH).3) Or static CO2 (E.g. “dry ice”)
This is consistent with Titan’s models which show it to be a dynamic atmosphere that shapes its surface through active processes. The combination of water and organisms may also mean that at the bottom of the impact pits are stable ancient ecosystems. As part of the science and engineering team overseeing this mission, Nish’s findings here could be reported to the next. Dragon Fly Where to look for life and potential evidence.
It also explains how the search for possible life outside of Earth is slowly advancing beyond Mars to include places in the outer solar system. Nishe said:
“I think more and more, we are seeing false similarities between life and Mars. The latest findings about Venus and what we are learning about it once it became a marine world is another game changer. After all, people are saying that, in search of life in the universe, we really need to focus on a lot more places, not Mars. And that includes sending a dragon fly mission to Titan at NASA. “
The next few decades promise to be a very exciting time for space exploration (and its fans!). In addition to returning to the moon, establishing a constant presence there and sending the first crew mission to Mars, we will also send our robotic researchers to investigate Europa, Ganymede and Titan in hopes of finding life there.
By doing so, we will finally be able to shed light on how life began in our solar system, and how and where it exists in the entire universe!
Further reading: NASA, WesternU
