Extraterrestrial Titan

The common properties of Titan and our Earth have led to great scientific interest in this Saturnian satellite, which can be considered as a type of extraterrestrial laboratory in which a series of chemical and physical processes occur which are similar to those involved in chemical evolution on the primeval Earth. 

Of the three extraterrestrial targets in our solar system, the Saturnian moon Titan is the least likely to provide signs of life. To quote Christopher McKay from the NASA Ames Research Center, Titan is an interesting world. For example, its organic haze layer could be an example of the prebiotic chemistry which led to life on Earth . Direct links to extraterrestrial life have not, however, yet been found, as water (one of the main preconditions for life) has not been detected on Titan, apart from traces of water vapour in the higher layers of the Titanian atmosphere (Brack, 2002). 

The chemical dynamics, reactivity, and stability of carbon-centered radicals play an important role in understanding the formation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), their hydrogen-dehcient precursor molecules, and carbonaceous nanostructures from the bottom up in extreme environments. These range from high-temperature combustion flames (up to a few 1000 K) and chemical vapor deposition of diamonds to more exotic, extraterrestrial settings such as low-temperature (30-200 K), hydrocarbon-rich atmospheres of planets and their moons such as Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, and Titan, as well as cold molecular clouds holding temperatures as low as 10... 

Studies of the reactions of many atmospherically important atomic and free radical species were described in Section 9 this Section deals primarily with important molecular species. A brief review of the progress achieved recently in the field of atmospheric chemistry has been provided by Cox, " with emphasis on the reactions of O3 and important H-, N-, C-, halogen-, and S-containing species. Waynehas reviewed extraterrestrial atmospheric photochemistry and Strobel " has reviewed the photochemistries of the atmospheres of Jupiter, Saturn, and Titan. Kaye and Strobeldescribed a 1-dimensional photochemical model of PHj chemistry in the atmosphere of Saturn. A study of the photochemical reactions of H2O and CO in the Earth s primitive atmosphere has been presented by Bar-Nun and Chang. " They concluded that even if the primitive atmosphere initially contained no H2 and contained carbon only in the form of CO and CO2, photochemical processes would have enriched the environment with a variety of organic compounds. 

The interest in the possibility of extraterrestrial clathrate hydrates on comets and the outer planets continues, for example, methane hydrate on Titan and CO2 hydrate on Mars. Moreover, this has sparked an interest in clathrate hydrate phases at high pressure. ... 

In my opinion. Titan is the best candidate in our solar system for the presence of extraterrestrial life because it has the three phases of matter flowing into each other. In fact, we may already have evidence in hand that life exists there, although from this far away, it s hard to tell. 

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