Titan is the largest moon of Saturn. Because Titan is far from the Sun, its atmosphere and surface is very cold. The chemistry in this atmosphere and on the surface interests scientists a great deal because the chemistry occurring there now might be similar to what occurred in the primordial days of the Earth.
The NAI JPL-Titan Team conducts an interdisciplinary investigation of prebiotic chemistry on Titan in the context of Titan's physical environment to provide a basis for understanding the prebiotic chemistry of the early Earth. Although Titan is far from the Sun, solar radiation interacts with the methane rich atmosphere to initiate the formation of complex organic molecules and aerosols that eventually deposit on Titan's geologically active surface, where further chemical evolution leading to the doorstep of life could occur.
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