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A recent study has revealed an unexpected chemical in the atmosphere of Saturn’s moon “Titan”, and evidence of more complex surface phenomena than scientists previously imagined, because Titan may be the place. most Earth-like in our solar system, except for the mixed components it contains. An underground ocean, which is shaped like water ice instead of rocks, also contains rain from organic compounds, and the atmosphere is denser than ours.
“We think of Titan as a real laboratory where we can see chemistry similar to that found on ancient Earth when life was taking root,” said Melissa Trainer, an astrobiologist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, according to Space . Here”.
The trainer was not involved in any of the new research papers, but she is the deputy principal investigator for NASA’s Dragonfly mission, which will launch on Titan in 2027 and arrive in 2034.
The researchers oriented Chile’s ALMA matrix towards the moon and discovered the chemical signature of cyclopropenilidine, a strange triangular compound made up of three carbon atoms and two hydrogen atoms.
“Titan is unique in our solar system,” said Conor Nixon, a planetary scientist at Goddard, in the same statement, adding, “It turned out to be a treasure trove of new particles.”
Maybe the newly observed compound is also interesting because it’s the second chemical found in Titan where carbon atoms stick together to build a ring-shaped skeleton, and those other chemicals that have that kind of structure. are needed for the molecules that make up the information-containing part of DNA.
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