hydrocarbon Archives - Astrobiology

This artist’s concept depicts NASA’s Cassini spacecraft performing one of its many close flybys of Titan, Saturn’s largest moon. By analyzing the Doppler shift of radio signals traveling to and from Earth, the mission precisely measured Titan’s gravity field. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Missions & Hardware, Press Release, Saturn, Titan, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Titan May Not Have A Global Ocean

by Keith CowingDecember 17, 2025December 17, 2025

A key discovery from NASA’s Cassini mission in 2008 was that Saturn’s largest moon Titan may have a vast water ocean below its hydrocarbon-rich surface. But reanalysis of mission data […]

This artist's concept of a lake at the north pole of Saturn's moon Titan illustrates raised rims and rampart-like features as seen by NASA's Cassini spacecraft. NASA/JPL-Caltech

Astrogeology, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Cryobiology, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Missions & Hardware, Press Release, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, Saturn, Titan, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Titan Could Harbor Life, But Only A Tiny Amount, Study Finds

by Keith CowingApril 8, 2025April 8, 2025

Titan, Saturn’s largest moon, is a strange, alien world. Covered in rivers and lakes of liquid methane, icy boulders and dunes of soot-like “sand,” its topography has long fascinated scientists […]

Cassini’s antenna is pointed at the predicted specular point where the angle of incidence (θi) equals the angle of reflection (θr), measured from the local vertical. Right circularly polarized (RCP) signals were transmitted, and at least one of the NASA Deep Space Network (DSN) antennas on Earth captured the echo. At the surface of Titan, a left circularly polarized (LCP) component of the echo signal was generated, requiring the presence on the ground of two receiving channels. Complex samples of each receiver output were collected at 16,000 samples/s and stored for later processing. The purpose of this figure is to illustrate the geometry of the observations and distances on the coordinate axes that are not drawn to scale. -- Nature Communications

Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Cryobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Icy Worlds, Missions & Hardware, Press Release, Titan, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

New Analysis Of Cassini Data Yields Insights Into Titan’s Seas

by Keith CowingJuly 29, 2024July 29, 2024

A new study of radar experiment data from the Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn has yielded fresh insights related to the makeup and activity of the liquid hydrocarbon seas near the […]

Artist’s impression of a protoplanetary disk around a very low-mass star. It depicts a selection of hydrocarbon molecules (Methane, CH4; Ethane, C2H6; Ethylene, C2H2; Diacetylene, C4H2; Propyne, C3H4; Benzene, C6H6) detected in the disk around ISO-ChaI 147. © ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO) / MPIA

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release

Planet-forming Disks Around Very Low-mass Stars Are Different

by Keith CowingJune 7, 2024June 7, 2024

Planets form in disks of gas and dust, orbiting young stars. The MIRI Mid-INfrared Disk Survey (MINDS), led by Thomas Henning from the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy (MPIA) in […]

A mosaic of infrared images of Titan north polar regions taken by the Narrow Angle Camera of the ISS instrument aboard the Cassini spacecraft. The main hydrocarbon seas are clearly visible, their sizes are similar to those of the Great American lakes (Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute).

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report, Titan

Capillary Processes In Extraterrestrial Contexts

by Keith CowingMay 1, 2024May 1, 2024

The Earth is no longer the only known celestial body containing one or more liquid phases.

Using

Astrochemistry, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release

Using Carbon-Carbon Clumping To Detect The Signature Of Biotic Hydrocarbons

by Keith CowingOctober 25, 2022October 25, 2022

An important signature of life is the existence of organic molecules that have originated from biological processes.