NASA believes that Saturn's largest moon, Titan, possesses the right condition for life and could be the place that scientists have wanted to visit for a long time. According to the scientists, Titan has one of the Earth-like worlds that scientists have found till date.
Saturn's moon Titan has a dense atmosphere and stable rivers and lakes similar to those on Earth. However, the air in Titan's atmosphere is majority nitrogen and cannot be used for breathing purposes. In addition, the lakes, oceans and rivers on the surface of Titan are full of liquid ethane and methane.
Also, the temperature on the surface of Saturn's moon is far too low for humans to be able to survive. However, if a visitor has a mask to wear and the best thermal underwear, they could probably get an idea on how much its features resemble that of Earth.
A new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggests that Titan might possess prebiotic conditions in the form of chemicals that come together and react to form complex molecules that support life.
According to Martin Rahm, the study lead author and a postdoctoral researcher in chemistry at Cornell, dealing with Titan is like being at the dead end since it is biologically very different to the conditions that exist on Earth.
Moreover, Titan has an abundance of noxious hydrogen cyanide, which is primarily formed when sunlight reacts with its hazy environment. This might sound unappealing to people on Earth, however, it could actually help support life in the celestial body.
The researchers showed hypothetically that it is possible for hydrogen cyanide to react with other molecules present on Titan to form long chains of molecules or polymers that support life such as polyimine.
That does not necessarily mean that Titan would start to behave like Earth. However, at Titan's temperature, polyimine could possess properties that support microbial evolution.
