A three-carbon molecule (C₃), probably formed in Titan’s upper atmosphere as a result of the reaction of large amounts of acetylene with atomic carbon. Of the more than 150 known moons of our solar system, Saturn’s largest moon, Titan, is the only one with a significant atmosphere. And of all the places in the Solar System, Titan is the only place other than Earth that has liquid on its surface in the form of rivers, lakes and seas.

Titan is larger than the planet Mercury and is the second largest moon in our solar system. Jupiter’s moon Ganymede is only slightly larger (by about 2%). Titan’s atmosphere consists mostly of nitrogen like Earth’s, but its surface pressure is 50% higher than Earth’s. Titan has clouds, rain, rivers, lakes, and seas of liquid hydrocarbons such as methane and ethane.

Observatório Astronomico de Lisboa and university astronomer Dr. “Hosting a thick and chemically diverse atmosphere, Titan stands out among the giant planet’s icy moons as one of the most thoroughly studied objects in the Solar System,” said Rafael Silva. . Lisbon.

“Titan’s atmosphere operates like a planet-sized chemical reactor, producing many complex carbon-based molecules.” “Of all the atmospheres we know of in the solar system, this is the one most similar to the atmosphere we think existed on early Earth.” “Methane, a gas on Earth, provides information about geological processes and possibly biological processes.”

“This is a molecule that cannot survive for long in the atmosphere of Earth or Titan because it is rapidly and irreversibly destroyed by solar radiation.” “Therefore, on Titan, methane must be replenished by geological processes such as underground gas release.”

Dr. In their study, Silva and colleagues analyzed high-resolution visible spectra of Titan obtained with the UVES High Resolution Spectrograph in the Visible and Ultraviolet on ESO’s Very Large Telescope.

They were able to detect 97 methane absorption lines as well as the one for the tricarbon molecule.

Dr. “Even in high-resolution spectra, methane absorption lines are not strong enough for the amount of gas we would have in the laboratory on Earth,” Silva said. “But Titan has a full atmosphere, and the path of light through the atmosphere can be hundreds of kilometers.”

“This makes various bands and lines with weak signal in laboratories on Earth highly visible on Titan.” “The tricarbon molecule, which manifests itself as blue radiation in the Solar System, was until now only known in the material surrounding the comet’s nucleus.”

“The absorption lines that we associate with tricarbon in Titan are few and of low intensity, although they are very specific for this type of molecules, so future observations will be required to confirm this detection.”

“The more we know about the different molecules involved in the chemical complexity of Titan’s atmosphere, the better we will understand the type of chemical evolution that may have allowed or played a role in the origin of life on Earth.”

“Some of the organic materials that support life on Earth are thought to be produced in Earth’s atmosphere by processes relatively similar to those we observe on Titan.” An article about the results of the research was published in the journal Planetary and Space Science.