Cassini Finds Organic Material on Titan

Associated Press ^ | Tue Apr 26, 9:43 AM ET | None Given

[Triggerhippie]

Cassini Finds Organic Material on Titan

Tue Apr 26, 9:43 AM ET

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PASADENA, Calif. - A close flyby of Saturn's big moon Titan by the international Cassini spacecraft revealed an upper atmosphere brimming with complex organic material, a finding that could hold clues to how life arose on Earth, scientists said Monday.

Photo AP Photo

Cassini flew within 638 miles of Titan's frozen surface on April 16 and discovered a hydrocarbon-laced upper atmosphere.

Titan's atmosphere is mainly made up of nitrogen and methane, the simplest type of hydrocarbon. But scientists were surprised to find complex organic material in the latest flyby. Because Titan is extremely cold — about minus 290 degrees — scientists expected the organic material to condense and rain down to the surface.

"We are beginning to appreciate the role of the upper atmosphere in the complex carbon cycle that occurs on Titan," said Hunter Waite, a professor at the University of Michigan.

Scientists believe Titan's atmosphere may be similar to that of the primordial Earth and studying it could provide clues to how life began.

The $3.3 billion Cassini mission, funded by NASA and the European and Italian space agencies, was launched in 1997 and took seven years to reach Saturn. The European Huygens probe carried aboard Cassini was released on Dec. 24 and plunged to the surface of Titan in January.

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On the Net:

Titan flyby images: http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov

[TheBattman]

a finding that could hold clues to how life arose on

So they think they will find God on that moon?

[biblewonk]

What kind of matter isn't organic.

[Lunatic Fringe]

"organic" material could really nothing but simple proteins.

[Tennessee_Bob]

Attempt no landings there...

[Tennessee_Bob]

I was thinking that maybe now we know where all those socks disappear to...

[whereasandsoforth]

All this wow-eyed wonderment about the origin of life on earth is amusing. Why don't they just read the book?

[wysiwyg]

I was thinking that maybe now we know where all those socks disappear to...

LOL - Dirty socks probably emit all kinds of organic gases.

[In veno, veritas]

Obviously the previous inhabitants polluted themselves out of existence. /sarc

[rintense]

I as just going to post that!!!!

All these worlds are yours except_______(Europa)
Do not attempt any landings there.
Use them together
Use them in peace.

[Moleman]

This just in from Kalifornia, Organic material found on Uranus.

[Two Thirds Vote Aye]

Thanks Molly! This spacecraft just amazes me!

[SkyPilot]

Thanks for the NASA release info. But a "discovery" of hydrocarbons in an atmosphere is hardly a cause for excitement. It is another example of "over reach" for even making this a news release at all, since a casual reader would assume it offers proof of life discovered elsewhere in the cosmos. It does not.

[<1/1,000,000th%]

The identified compounds include multiple carbon molecules and carbon-nitrogen bearing species as well.

Amino acids???

[COBOL2Java]

Saturn's moon Titan taken by the Cassini spacecraft on Dec. 11, 2004.

[COBOL2Java]

Cassini Finds Organic Material on Titan

[AndrewC]

Maybe two or three, glycine and alanine and possibly serine(from what the mass data indicates). What is strange though is that the gross attributes of Titan's atmosphere are described as methane and nitrogen. Yet the data shows single carbon species density as 1/100th of that of double carbon species.



Amino acid scale values:

Ala: 89.000
Arg: 174.000
Asn: 132.000
Asp: 133.000
Cys: 121.000
Gln: 146.000
Glu: 147.000
Gly: 75.000
His: 155.000
Ile: 131.000
Leu: 131.000
Lys: 146.000
Met: 149.000
Phe: 165.000
Pro: 115.000
Ser: 105.000
Thr: 119.000
Trp: 204.000
Tyr: 181.000
Val: 117.000

[<1/1,000,000th%]

Interesting. And quick work too!

[AndrewC]

I also can't figure out what non-ionized gases would have masses from 12-15D

[AndrewC]

I'm lazy. I used the internet for the calculations.

[AntiGuv]

I dunno if I'm just in a cranky mood lately but I swear there must be some kind of brain-wasting epidemic going around these past few days.