Abstract
Many space missions of exo/astrobiological importance have been launched since the beginning of planetary exploration with space probes more than 40 years ago. The most exobiologically oriented one was certainly the Viking mission to Mars, which became the first extraterrestrial planetary target to be searched for evidence of (extinct and extant) life. However, there is another category of extraterrestrial planetary bodies of prime interest for Exobiology: bodies where a complex organic chemistry is taking place. Titan, Saturn’s largest satellite, with its thick nitrogen atmosphere, rich in organics in the gas and aerosol phases, and with many analogies to the early Earth, is probably, with the comets, one of the most exobiologically interesting bodies of this second kind.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsPreview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Refrences
Campbell, D.B., Black, G.J., Carter, L.M. and Ostro S.J. (2003) Radar Evidence for Liquid Surfaces on Titan, Science, in press.
Coll, P., Guillemin, J.-C., Gazeau, M.-C. and Raulin, F. (1999) Report and implications of the first observation of C4N2 in laboratory simulations of Titan’s atmosphere, Planet. Space Sci 47(12), 1433–1440.
Coll, P., Bernard, J.-M., Navarro-González, R. and Raulin, F. (2003) Oxirane: An exotic oxygenated organic compound in Titan? Astrophys. J, in press.
Coustenis, A., Salama, A., Lellouch, E., Encrenaz, Th., Bjoraker, G.L., Samuelson, R.E., De Graauw, Th., Feuchtgruber, F. and Kessler, M.F. (1998) Evidence for water vapor in Titan’s atmosphere from ISO/SWS data, Astron. Astrophys. 336, L85–L89.
Coustenis, A., Salama, A., Schulz, B., Ott, S., Lellouch, E, Encrenaz, Th, Gautier, D. and Feuchtgruber, H. (2003). Titan’s atmosphere from ISO mid-infrared spectroscopy, Icarus, 161, 383–403.
Fortes, A.D. (2000) Exobiological implications of a possible ammonia-water ocean inside Titan, Icarus 146, 444–452.
Grasset, Q. and Sotin, C. (1996) The cooling rate of a liquid shell in Titan’s interior, Icarus 123, 101–123.
Griffith, C., Owen, T., Geballe, T.R., Ravner, J. and Rannou, P. (2003) Evidence for the Exposure of Water Ice on Titan’s Surface, Science, 300(5619), 628–630.
Israel, G., Cabane, M., Brun, J.F., Niemann, H., Way, S., Riedler, W., Steller, M., Raulin, F. and Coscia, D. (2002) The Cassini-Huygens ACP experiment and exobiological implications, Space Science Review, 104(1-4), 435–466.
Kazeminejad, B., Lebreton, J.-P., Matson, D. L., Spilker, L. and Raulin, F. (2002) The Cassini/Huygens Mission to Saturn and Titan and its relevance to Exo/Astrobiology, Proc. 2d European Workshop on Exo-/Astro-Biology, ESA-SP 518, 261–268.
Lebreton, J.-P. and Matson, D. L. (2002) The Huygens probe: Science, Payload and Mission Overview, Space Science Review, 104(1-4), 59–100.
Lorenz, R. and Mitton, J. (2002) Lifting Titan’s Veil, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, U.K.
Matson, D., Spilker, L.J. and Lebreton, J.-P. (2002) The Cassini/Huygens mission to the Saturnian system, Space Science Review, 104(1-4), 1–58.
McKay, C.P., Coustenis, A., Samuelson, R.E., Lemmon, M.T., Lorenz, R.D., Cabane, M., Rannou, P. and Drossard, P. (2001) Physical properties of the organic aerosols and clouds on Titan, Planet. Space Sci. 49, 79–99.
Mousis, O., Gautier, D. and Bockelée-Morvan, D. (2002) An evolutionary turbulent Model of Saturn’s subnebula: Implications for the origin of the atmosphere of Titan, Icarus, 156, 162–175.
Niemann, H.B., Atreya, S.K., Bauer, S.J., Biemann, K., Block, B., Carignan, G.R., Donahue, T.M., Frost, R.L., Gautier, D., Haberman, J.A., Harpold, D., Hunten, D.M.D.M., Israel, G., Lunine, J.I., Mauersberger, K., Owen, T.C., Raulin, F., Richards, J.E. and Way, S.H. (2002) The Gas Chromatograph Mass Spectrometer for the Huygens Probe, Space Science Review, 104(1-4), 551–590.
Ramirez, S.I., Coll, P., Da Silva, A., Navarro-Gonzalez, R., Lafait, A. and Raulin, F. (2002) Complex Refractive Index of Titan’s Aerosol Analogues in the 200-900 nm domain, Icarus, 156(2), 515–530.
Raulin, F. and Owen, T. (2002) Organic chemistry and exobiology on Titan, Space Science Review, 104(1-4), 379–395.
Russell, C.T. (ed.) (2002) The Cassini-Huygens mission, Overview, Objectives and Huygens Instrumentarium, Space Science Review, 104(1-4).
Rodriguez, S., Paillou, P., Dobrijevic, M., Ruffié G., Coll, P., Bernard, J.M., and Encrenaz, P. (2003), Impact of aerosols present in Titan’s atmosphere on the CASSINI radar experiment, Icarus, 164, 213–227.
Vuitton, Gee, C., Raulin, F., Benilan, Y., Crepin, C. and Gazeau, M.-C. (2003) Intrinsic lifetime of C4H2*: Implications for the photochemistry of C4H2 in Titan’s atmosphere, Planet. Space Sci., in press.
Wilson A. (Ed.), European Space Agency (1997) Huygens: Science, Payload and mission, ESA SP- 1177.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2004 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Raulin, F., Lebreton, JP., Owen, T. (2004). Titan. In: Seckbach, J., Chela-Flores, J., Owen, T., Raulin, F. (eds) Life in the Universe. Cellular Origin and Life in Extreme Habitats and Astrobiology, vol 7. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-1003-0_58
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-1003-0_58
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-1-4020-3093-2
Online ISBN: 978-94-007-1003-0
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive