How Titan Got Its Atmosphere

One of the things that made astrobiologists so interested in Saturn's largest moon is the fact that it shares many similarities to our own planet, in terms of atmospheres, atmospheric chemical cycles and so on. However, how Titan got to its current configuration is still a matter of debate.

At this point, scientists believe that this remote, freezing world provides our best shot of discovering life or life-friendly chemistry of any other location in the solar system. Unlike our planet, the Saturnine moon does not rely on water and carbon to lead its may atmospheric cycles.

Nitrogen and liquid hydrocarbons such as methane or ethane are the primary chemicals there. Even so, researchers say that there is a significant chance the world may be capable of producing the necessary chemistry to support the development of life.

Some of the most recent studies on the issue have shown that Titan may contain pre-biotic molecules in its atmosphere, such as for example the chemical precursors for deoxyribonucleic and ribonucleic acids (DNA and RNA), Space reports.

According to some planetary scientists, the moon currently looks like our planet may have appeared billions of years ago. The same experts believe that the two atmospheres are so similar because they were produced by the same processes.

Comets and asteroids may have been responsible for layering and processing the air around the two bodies through the force of gravity and chemical additions. Recent investigations have shown that most of Earth's oceans may have been brought here from space.

“Titan provides an extraordinary environment to better understand some of the chemical processes that led to the appearance of life on Earth,” research scientists Josep M. Trigo-Rodriguez explains. He holds an appointment at the Institute of Space Sciences (CSIC-IEEC), in Barcelona, Spain.

“Titan's atmosphere is a natural laboratory that, in many aspects, seems to have a strong similitude with our current picture of the pre-biotic atmosphere of Earth,” he adds. This is why many astronomers are currently calling for an explorations mission to be conducted in Titan's atmosphere.

Trigo-Rodriguez and colleague F. Javier Martin-Torres – who is based at the Center for Astrobiology, in Madrid, Spain, are the authors of a new paper on the origins of Titan's atmosphere, called “Clues on the importance of comets in the origin and evolution of the atmospheres of Titan.”

The work is detailed in the latest issue of the esteemed journal Planetary and Space Science.