Abstract
In the Solar System three types of atmospheric environments can be found: the highly oxidized Earth-like atmospheres, the mildy reduced atmospheres of Titan, Pluto and Triton, and the highly reduced atmospheres of the giant planets. In the terrestrial atmospheres carbon, the most abundant element in the Universe after hydrogen, helium and oxygen, is mostly combined with oxygen to form carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide. On Earth methane exists in some significant quantity also, and this is due to the presence and action of life. In the non-terrestrial atmospheres, methane is very abundant and it is the carrier of most of the carbon. In these atmospheres other organics are formed from photochemical processes with methane at the origin. Titan has the most complex atmosphere when it comes to organic molecules. Titan’s atmosphere may represent a low-temperature version of the conditions similar to those existant on Earth before the appearance of life.
The goal of this paper is to provide a short overview of the current knowledge on organic molecules in planetary atmospheres.
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Roos-Serote, M. (2004). Organic Molecules in Planetary Atmospheres. In: Ehrenfreund, P., et al. Astrobiology: Future Perspectives. Astrophysics and Space Science Library, vol 305. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-2305-7_6
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