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Astrobiology of Titan

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Life on Earth and other Planetary Bodies

Part of the book series: Cellular Origin, Life in Extreme Habitats and Astrobiology ((COLE,volume 24))

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Abstract

Mars, Europa, and Titan—these solar system bodies have a great exobiological significance. Here, we will focus on Titan, the largest satellite of Saturn, which has a dense atmosphere composed primarily of N2with about 5 % CH4and a large number of minor constituents such as carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, ethane, ethylene, acetylene, cyanoacetylene, hydrogen cyanide, benzene, and many others. An internal water ocean could exist below the surface crust of water ice. A 100-km-deep ocean considered in the recent model is buried below several tens of kilometers of ice (Lorenz et al., 2008). The temperature of such ocean corresponds to the temperature of water at its maximum density (4 °C). The main requirements needed for exobiology are liquid water which exists within long geological period, complex organic and inorganic chemistry, and energy sources for support of biological processes. And all of these are on Titan.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Cytology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Tikhoretsky Av., 4, St., Petersburg, 194064, Russia

    Michae Simakov

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  1. Michae Simakov
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Correspondence to Michae Simakov .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institut für Geophysik, Astrophysik und Meteorologie, Universität Graz, Universitätsplatz 5, Graz, 8010, Austria

    Arnold Hanslmeier

  2. , Physical Geology and Global Cycles, Institute of Applied Geosciences (IAG), Schnittspahnstraße 9, Darmstadt, 64287, Germany

    Stephan Kempe

  3. University of Jerusalem, Mevo Hadas 20, Efrat, 90435, Israel

    Joseph Seckbach

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Simakov, M. (2012). Astrobiology of Titan. In: Hanslmeier, A., Kempe, S., Seckbach, J. (eds) Life on Earth and other Planetary Bodies. Cellular Origin, Life in Extreme Habitats and Astrobiology, vol 24. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4966-5_19

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