Saturn’s biggest moon Titan is somewhat an alternate reality twin of Earth, but with a lot more mysteries. It’s the only other world in our solar system that has an abundance of organic molecules and is decorated with lakes and rivers. Titan also has a dense atmosphere and seasonal weather.
Even though it might not be like our Earth, Titan’s lakes have methane and rain could burn human skin. The moon has proven to be a promising world to seek signs of extraterrestrial life. NASA is said to be working on a rotorcraft, which they refer to as a “large drone,” which will be sent to Titan in 2027 with the Dragonfly mission, with an aim to discover something remarkable.
Observing Titan’s atmosphere
But since it would take another seven years for the space agency to send the spacecraft on Saturn’s moon – almost a billion miles away – many astronomers are working on figuring out Titan’s environment down here on Earth.
A new experiment by scientists at Southern Methodist University aimed to do so by mimicking the conditions of Titan in a test tube. Though the moon is alien, it shares many organic molecules found on Earth. However, its temperature is way low.
“If we’re going to study the minerals on Titan, we need to take a look at these common organic molecules … but look at them with different eyes; look at them through the prism of Titan,” explains Tomče Runčevski, principal investigator of the experiment presented at the fall meeting of the American Chemical Society.
Hunting for biosignatures
When the team ran the experiment, they witnessed a change in the structural sequences of these two molecules. “This is very interesting and important, because so far … all the studies that have been done for acetonitrile — and there are a lot of studies — they assume that they will have the low-temperature polymorph because, on Titan, the temperature is low,” Runčevski added.
Speaking of NASA’s Dragonfly mission, it will be hunting for chemical biosignatures on Titan that might indicate life. The moon is thought to have a liquid water ocean beneath its icy crust.
