An international team of scientists have discovered vinyl cyanide in the atmosphere of Titan (Saturn's largest moon), and this is truly exciting news. If life is possible on Titan, then this molecule probably plays an important role in it.
What Titan's Atmosphere Is Like
The NASA-led study, published in Science Advances, estimates that there are about 100,000 billion molecules in every cubic centimeter of Titan's atmosphere. While this figure may seem extremely high, it corresponds to about one millionth percent of Titan's atmospheric composition. But if the scientists' calculations are correct, even that tiny percentage can make a big difference.
Titan can hardly be called a world in which life can exist (as it should be in our view), given the temperature -180 ° C and the dense atmosphere, the main component of which is nitrogen. Despite this, the researchers decided to speculate what simple life forms on the moon of Saturn might look like, especially since vinyl cyanide is, presumably, a suitable molecule for creating cell membranes.
On Earth, cell membranes are made up of fatty molecules called lipids, but they cannot form in a cold world like Titan. Instead, vinyl cyanide can be used to form cell membranes.
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What scientists have discovered
This was all theory until scientists using Cassini discovered a hint of the existence of these molecules. Further modeling showed that vinyl cyanide can form stable membranes in a titanium-like environment.
The researchers then used the massive ALMA telescope at Atacama to study Titan's atmosphere. With this telescope, observations were made from February to May 2014, and these data confirm the presence of vinyl cyanide. The molecules were found mostly at altitudes over 200 kilometers, which is in line with the expected model of Titan's atmosphere.
Methane seas and lakes
If these molecules are deposited on the surface of Saturn's moon, they are likely to end up in one of the many lakes and seas of methane. According to scientists, if cell membranes were formed on Titan, then there would have to be 10 million of them per cubic centimeter in Ligeia Mare - Titan's second largest liquid ocean. By comparison, there are about 1 million bacteria per cubic centimeter in coastal ocean waters on Earth.
Titan is the only object in the solar system on which a stable surface liquid has been found. This research could be the beginning of a study of how life with a vinyl cyanide membrane can form and flourish on Titan.
Research like this could also help us understand the complex relationship between a satellite's surface and the atmosphere, and perhaps determine if life really exists there.
Anna Pismenna
