From the interstellar clouds, through the inner to the outer solar system: A universally distributed complex organic chemistry

Complex organic molecular material of non-biological origin is found in abundance in the interstellar dust in our Galaxy, and is also detected in other galaxies. Some of this material was incorporated into the solar nebula and is now found in some Solar System bodies. While some pre-solar organic material has been preserved, synthesis of complex organics in planetary atmospheres and on icy surfaces has been in progress for the entire age of the Solar System. Refractory organic solids have proven difficult to detect by traditional spectroscopic techniques, and their presence is usually inferred from the low albedo and (often) red color of the surfaces of small bodies in the outer Solar System (OSS). Color in complex organic molecules, such as polymers and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, is caused by absorption in the UV and visible spectral regions arising from electronic transitions connected primarily with C-C and C-0 bonding. In particular, large hydrocarbon molecules with conjugated (alternating pairs of double and single) C-C bonds have color because the electronic transitions of the de-localized pi electrons extend into the visible spectral region; the longer the conjugated chain, the further is the extension to longer wavelength, with the result that especially large molecular material appears black.

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Titan's Organic Chemistry

Symposium - International Astronomical Union ◽

10.1017/s007418090014642x ◽

1985 ◽

Vol 112 ◽

pp. 107-121

Author(s):

C. Sagan ◽

W. R. Thompson ◽

B. N. Khare

Keyword(s):

Organic Chemistry ◽

Solar System ◽

Organic Molecules ◽

Building Blocks ◽

Organic Solids ◽

Microwave Frequencies ◽

Life On Earth ◽

Complex Organic

Voyager discovered nine simple organic molecules in the atmosphere of Titan. Complex organic solids, called tholins, produced by irradiation of simulated Titanian atmosphere are consistent with measured properties of Titan from ultraviolet to microwave frequencies, and are the likely main constituents of the observed red aerosols. The tholins contain many of the organic building blocks central to life on Earth. At least 100 m and possibly kms thickness of complex organics have been produced on Titan during the age of the solar system, and may exist today as submarine deposits beneath an extensive ocean of simple hydrocarbons.

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The outer solar system: A program for exploration

Icarus ◽

10.1016/0019-1035(70)90130-2 ◽

1970 ◽

Vol 13 (1) ◽

pp. 157-158

Author(s):

Carl Sagan

Keyword(s):

Solar System ◽

Outer Solar System ◽

System A

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Fluorescence Spectroscopy to Detect Complex Biomolecules in Plumes of the Outer Solar System: a fast, low-cost, flyby mission to search for biomarkers

10.3847/25c2cfeb.0872fb4b ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 53 (4) ◽

Author(s):

Erin Redwing ◽

Christopher P. McKay ◽

Imke de Pater

Keyword(s):

Solar System ◽

Fluorescence Spectroscopy ◽

Low Cost ◽

Outer Solar System ◽

System A

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Primordial matter in the outer solar system: A study of its chemical composition from remote spectroscopic analysis

Space Science Reviews ◽

10.1007/bf00180336 ◽

1984 ◽

Vol 38 (1-2) ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

Th�r�se Encrenaz

Keyword(s):

Chemical Composition ◽

Solar System ◽

Spectroscopic Analysis ◽

Outer Solar System ◽

System A

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Prebiotic-Related Chemistry in the Present Outer Solar System

International Astronomical Union Colloquium ◽

10.1017/s0252921100014913 ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 161 ◽

pp. 401-412

Author(s):

François Raulin ◽

Patrice Coll ◽

Marie-Claire Gazeau ◽

Paul Bruston

Keyword(s):

Solar System ◽

Liquid Water ◽

Prebiotic Chemistry ◽

Outer Solar System ◽

Outer Planets ◽

Organic Systems ◽

Long Time ◽

Planetary Environment ◽

Complex Organic ◽

Natural Laboratory

AbstractThere are numerous places in the outer solar system where the formation of the starting ingredients which are involved in the early terrestrial prebiotic chemistry is currently going on. Organic chemistry is largely present in the outer planets, particularly in Titan. Titan has a dense atmosphere, mainly composed of N2and CH4and very rich in organic compounds, both in gas and aerosol phases. Because of the low temperature of Titan’s environment, liquid water is currently absent from the satellite and compounds of low stability at the (Earth) laboratory temperature, and very reactive, are still or may be present. However, Titan study should provide information on prebiotic chemistry – at least prebiotic chemistry in absence of liquid water. This quasi-planet thus appears as a natural laboratory enabling to study prebiotic evolution toward complex organic systems in a planetary environment over a long time scale. A detailed study of such a natural prebiotic laboratory is precisely one of the main objectives of the Cassini-Huygens mission. With the sending of the Cassini orbiter around Saturn and the Huygens probe in the atmosphere of Titan, this mission, due to be launched in October 1997, for a Saturn arrival in 2004, will offer a unique opportunity to study in detail extra-terrestrial prebiotic processes, together with important implications in the field of bioastronomy and the origins of life.

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