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Titans smog clears a little |
| TheAllINeed.com |
(NC&T/STFC) The atmosphere of Titan is of great interest as it is the only one in the solar system remotely like that of Earth, containing a nitrogen rich mix of gases.
Data collected using the Cassini Plasma Spectrometer and the UK-led sensor on it, the Electron Spectrometer, have revealed an unexpected cloud of very heavy ions 1000km above Titan's surface.
These ions are complex organic molecules formed from methane and nitrogen when exposed to intense sunlight, such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and similar compounds containing Nitrogen. They gradually form more and more complex molecules – reaching masses of 8000 times that of a single Hydrogen atom, possibly up to 40,000 times (more complex than insulin).
These molecules sink towards Titan's surface, forming a group of compounds named 'tholins' by Carl Sagan. Tholins were observed in the Urey-Miller experiment in 1953 which demonstrated that organic molecules could be formed from inorganic precursors. As such, they may provide the building blocks from which life forms.
 | | Scientists using NASAs Cassini spacecraft have unravelled a new piece of the complex chemical processes that take place in the atmosphere of Titan. (Photo: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute) |
Dr Andrew Coates from UCL's Mullard Space Science Laboratory, a co-author on the paper and lead of the ELS team, said "It's humbling to think that, with our instrument at Titan, we may be seeing processes which were at work in Earth's early atmosphere and which eventually led to life on Earth. It turns out that Titan's atmosphere is an organic chemical factory on a grand scale. To see such heavy negative ions was a big surprise for us, and is a key finding linking processes in Titan's atmosphere to the surface of Titan itself - and perhaps to dark, PAH-related deposits on Saturn's other moons."
"Tholins are very large, complex organic molecules thought to include chemical precursors to life," said Dr. Hunter Waite, from the Southwest Research Institute, and leader of Cassini's Ion Neutral Mass Spectrometer (INMS) team. "Understanding how they form could provide valuable insight into the origin of life in the solar system."
"The negative ions were a complete surprise," said Dr. David Young, also an SwRI Institute scientist, and leader of the CAPS investigation. "This suggests they may play an unexpected role in making tholins from carbon-nitrogen precursors."
UK participation in the Cassini mission is funded by the Science and Technology Facilities Council.
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| About the Author |
©2006 All rights reserved
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| Quotes | Figures wont lie, but liars will figure.
General Charles H. Grosvenor.
He thought the formula for water was H-I-J-K-L-M-N-O (H-to-O).
He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lampposts — for support rather than illumination. — Andrew Lang.
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