Our knowledge gained of Titan has drastically improved since the early 1980s when Voyager flew past it. Titan is Saturn’s largest moon and the second largest moon of our solar system. It has a diameter estimated roughly 40% of Earth’s moon (Titan’s Radius: 2576, Moon’s Radius: 1737) and is 80% more massive (Titan’s Mass: 1.35 x 10^23 kg, Moon’s Mass: 7.35 x 10^22 kg. Titan has a atmospheric surface pressure 50% more than of Earth’s. In addition to that, Titan is the only moon to have a dense atmosphere. Titan’s atmosphere has been calculated to be 4.5 times more dense than of Earth’s atmosphere, which can been clearly noted by the layers of haze seen. The atmosphere in Titan is approximately 1.5km and is mainly composed of nitrogen. Titan has a very similar vertical atmospheric structure to earth, Titan has a troposphere temperature of ~94-~70K, a tropopause temperature of 70.4K and a stratosphere temperature of ~70-175K.
In regards of greenhouse gasses in Titan’s atmosphere, Methane makes a very capable and effective greenhouse gas . Methane, which is transparent in UV and visible spectral regions, displays absorption bands which complements Titan’s infrared emission spectrum. The cycle of methane on Titan is still a mystery and needs further research gain more understanding, however it seems to be very similar to of water on Earth. Also another efficient greenhouse gas is Molecular hydrogen, which also absorbs the infrared and enact a similar role to Methane. Many answered questions was aided by the Cassini Huygens mission which was developed by NASA and ESA. In Titan’s atmospheric pressure-temperature conditions, it is possible to condense methane but not possible to condense molecular hydrogen. Thus, on Titan, methane and ...
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... Titan, researchers have already detected an active organic chemistry in the gas phase with a large amount of organic compounds in the high stratosphere; while the chemistry in the high stratosphere is in the gas phase, chemistry in the lower atmosphere are mainly in the condensed phase.
Titan’s temperature has been measured to be extremely cold, in spite of that, liquid water is still present on Titan’s surface. When a coment strikes a moon, episodic events as long as 1000 years of liquid water; thus short terrestrial prebiotic synthesys will be able to occur because of the conditions given. Another potential candidate for prebiotic chemistry in water is Cryovolcanism.
An effective way of converting simple organics into complex molecules and reprocess chondritic organic matter into prebiotic compounds may be possible due to Titan’s water-ammonia oceans.
In 1977, a recent research by geochemists Eoghan Reeves, Jeff Seewald, and Jill McDermott at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) is the first to test a fundamental assumption of this ‘metabolism first’ hypothesis. This popular view says simple reaction emerged near ancient seafloor hot springs. These reactions presumably turned a nonliving world to a living one.
Light years away in a distant galaxy, there is a planet. Not a planet anything like our own, but much larger, approximately eleven times larger than our own making, it is closer in size to that of Jupiter. The name of this planet is Kronos. Since Kronos is so much larger than our Earth it has an atmosphere that is very close to the surface of the planet, this is true because the law of universal gravitation tells us that as the masses of two objects increase the distance between the two objects decreases. This atmosphere unlike Earth’s has mostly methane and nitrogen at around 46% methane and 52% nitrogen abundance. Since the atmosphere is so close to the surface the surface of Kronos is under a lot of pressure because
While it can be found on Earth in a natural state, quantities are very low, no higher than 0.000137%. The moon has large quantities of Helium-3, as current analyses indicate that there are at least 1 million metric tons embedded in the lunar surface. About half the Helium-3 is deposited in a portion of about 20% of th...
Before this breakthrough no one could have thought that life occurred so amazingly early, that Earth was inhabited by a huge array of tiny life forms throughout the first four-fifths of it’s existence, and no one deduced that evolution itself evolved over geologic time. All of geological time, the total history of the earth, is divided into major eras and eons. The Precambrian eon marks the approximate age of the earth and spans a time of 4.6 billion years ago to 523 million years ago. This era is known to include approximately 90% of geologic time and covers 4 billion years of Earth history. The time period is not extremely well known or completely understood because rocks from this era are poorly exposed, many rocks have been eroded or metamorphosed, most are buried deep beneath younger rocks and fossils from this time period and are seldom found.
The atmosphere of Uranus is thick with a lot of hydrogen, helium, and methane. It has a very low density, the mean density is 1271 kg/m³. Uranus lacks any really significant internal heat source and it mean surface temperature is 58° K.
Within our Solar System lies an abundance of planets, each with their own unique characteristics, including the Terrestrial planets of Venus, Earth, and Mars who vary in many aspects but, most importantly, their atmosphere.
This paper can help you with that.... ... middle of paper ... ... Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 05:49, July 31, 2008, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Greenhouse_gas&oldid=228960982.
Right alongside the fifth and largest planet in our solar system, Jupiter, orbits a moon only about the same size as Earth’s moon. On this moon, is an icy surface that scientists are trying to uncover. Due to the presence of what they believe to be water, there is the possibility of life on this moon named Europa.
In order to get the latter statement a Russian spacecraft – Venera – was sent to Venus to carry out investigations. Thereupon, it was found that the Venusian atmosphere has an unusual atmospheric structure of two distinct tropospheric areas that carry out distinct chemical reactions. Such structure goes as follows: the upper troposphere is exposed to sun rays thus carries out dissociation related chemical reaction whereas the lower troposphere is protected from the solar light hence traps heat and carries out heat related chemical reactions. In conclusion, such reactions that take place together with the abundant carbon dioxide (CO2) in the Venusian troposphere are vital in order to create species such as oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and produce sulphuric acid (H2SO4) droplets that make up the clouds veiling Venus.
First is a description of the greenhouse effect. The earth’s atmosphere has four layers, or zones, with each having distinct differences in temperature. The troposphere is the first layer surrounding the earth. Within this layer air is continually circulating and moving heat and moisture around the earth. The troposphere is denser than the other layers due to the fact that gravity keeps the majority of air molecules near the earth. This is about 75 percent of all the atmospheric mass. It is also the warmest layer (Cunningham & Cunningham, ...
Research News Planetary Scientists are Seeing the Unseeable Richard A. Kerr Science, New Series, Vol. 235, No. 2 -. 4784. The. Jan. 2, 1987, pp. 113-117. 29-31. The 'Standard' of the 'Standard'. Stable URL:
Uranus is so far away that scientists knew comparatively little about it before NASA's Voyager 2 undertook its historic first encounter with the planet. The spacecraft flew closely past distant Uranus, and came within 81,500 kilometers (50,600 miles) of Uranus's cloudtops on Jan. 24, 1986. Voyager 2 radioed thousands of images and mass amounts of other scientific data about Uranus, its moons, rings, atmosphere, interior and magnetic environment. However, while Voyager has revealed much about the gas giant, many questions remain to be answered.
The moon is the only natural satellite of Earth. The moon orbits the Earth from 384,400 km and has an average speed of 3700 km per hour. It has a diameter of 3476 km, which is about ¼ that of the Earth and has a mass of 7.35e22 kg. The moon is the second brightest object in the sky after the sun.
This hypothesis emerged when scientists found organic molecules in meteorites from the universe. Some investigators wondered if the abiotic production of organic materials in the soil was absolutely basic to the origin of life. Maybe some organic materials from elsewhere in the universe had arrived in the early earth.
Water covers about seventy one percent of Earth’s surface. Earth is the only planet to have stable bodies of liquid water on its surface which is crucial for all known life forms. Water is a substance which acts as a solvent in which organic compounds can mix, and it is the substance which is thought to be necessary to facilitate the formation of life. There are many forms of water which include ice, liquid, and gas. Because water can exist as a gas, it can be stored in the atmosphere and be delivered as precipitate. Water also helps regulate the climat...