Origin and Chemical Make-Up of Titan's Dunes Unraveled
A team led by a University of Hawaii at Manoa chemistry professor and researcher has been able to provide answers to key questions about the surface of Saturn’s moon Titan.
Physical chemist Ralf I. Kaiser and fellow researchers examined remote sensing data regarding NASA’s Cassini-Huygens mission to Titan–the only solar system body besides Earth with a solid surface, lakes and a thick atmosphere with a pressure of about 1.5 atmosphere at surface level. Images and data from Cassini-Huygens exposed the existence of vast longitudinal dunes on Titan’s surface across the equatorial deserts reaching heights of up to 100 meters, close to the size of the Egyptian pyramids of Giza. Whereas Earth’s dunes are made of silicates or the largest class of minerals, imaging studies revealed that Titan’s dunes contain dark organics of until now undetermined origin and chemical composition.
Vast longitudinal dunes on Titan’s surface
Credit: University of Hawaii
“Titan’s dunes represent the dominating surface sink of carbon in Titan’s organic chemistry,” said Abplanalp, current researcher at the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division at China Lake. “Therefore, unraveling the origin and chemical pathways to form this organic dune material is vital not only to understand Titan’s chemical evolution, but also to grasp how alike the chemistries on Titan and on Earth might have been like before life emerged on Earth 3.5 million years ago.”
“These processes eventually furnish the molecular building blocks not only for Titan’s organic dunes, but also for organics on airless bodies in general such as on Kuiper Belt Objects like dwarf planet Makemake,” outlined Kaiser.
“The low temperature synthesis of PAHs from acetylene ices represents a fundamental shift from currently accepted perceptions that PAH formation takes place solely in the gas phase at elevated temperatures of a few 1,000 K such as in combustion processes.”
These findings will have unprecedented implications for the next space mission to Titan. NASA aims to land a flying robot, Dragonfly, on the surface of Titan, the top target in the search for alien life and its molecular precursors. The car-sized quadcopter, equipped with instruments capable of identifying large organic molecules, is slated to launch on a rocket in 2026, arrive at its destination in 2034 and then fly to multiple locations hundreds of miles apart. Dragonfly will land near Titan’s equator close to the organic dunes thus providing an in situ glimpse of potentially biorelevant organics at a frozen stage–boldly going where no one has gone before.
“Overall, this study advances our understanding of the complex organics and fundamental chemical processing of simple molecules in deep space and provides a scientifically sound and proven mechanism of formation of aromatic structures in extreme environments in low temperature ices,” Kaiser concluded. “Since Titan is nitrogen-rich, the incorporation of nitrogen in these PAHs may also lead to carbon-nitrogen moieties (parts of a molecule) prevailing in contemporary biochemistry such as in DNA and RNA-based nitrogen-bases.”
Contacts and sources:
Ralf Kaiser
University of Hawaii at Manoa
Citation: Low-temperature synthesis of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in Titan’s surface ices and on airless bodies Matthew J. Abplanalp, Robert Frigge and Ralf I. Kaiser Science Advances 16 Oct 2019:Vol. 5, no. 10, eaaw5841 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aaw5841
http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aaw5841
Source:
Anyone can join.
Anyone can contribute.
Anyone can become informed about their world.
"United We Stand" Click Here To Create Your Personal Citizen Journalist Account Today, Be Sure To Invite Your Friends.
Please Help Support BeforeitsNews by trying our Natural Health Products below!
Order by Phone at 888-809-8385 or online at https://mitocopper.com M - F 9am to 5pm EST
Order by Phone at 866-388-7003 or online at https://www.herbanomic.com M - F 9am to 5pm EST
Order by Phone at 866-388-7003 or online at https://www.herbanomics.com M - F 9am to 5pm EST
Humic & Fulvic Trace Minerals Complex - Nature's most important supplement! Vivid Dreams again!
HNEX HydroNano EXtracellular Water - Improve immune system health and reduce inflammation.
Ultimate Clinical Potency Curcumin - Natural pain relief, reduce inflammation and so much more.
MitoCopper - Bioavailable Copper destroys pathogens and gives you more energy. (See Blood Video)
Oxy Powder - Natural Colon Cleanser! Cleans out toxic buildup with oxygen!
Nascent Iodine - Promotes detoxification, mental focus and thyroid health.
Smart Meter Cover - Reduces Smart Meter radiation by 96%! (See Video).