This special CGCA (The Leonard E. Parker Center for Gravitation, Cosmology and Astrophysics) seminar is scheduled for Thursday 10\/15\/15 at 3:30 pm in Lapham 162.<\/p>\n
Organic Chemistry on Titan<\/strong> The Cassini-Huygens mission has revealed Saturn\u2019s largest moon Titan to be a remarkably Earth-like world, with a diverse landscape of rivers, lakes and seas, vast dune fields, plains and mountains. Unlike Earth, however, Titan\u2019s visible surface is dominated by solid organic materials at cryogenic temperatures, and altered by the action of liquid methane and ethane. This special CGCA (The Leonard E. Parker Center for Gravitation, Cosmology and Astrophysics) seminar is scheduled for Thursday 10\/15\/15 at 3:30 pm in Lapham 162. Organic Chemistry on Titan Rob Hodyss, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology The Cassini-Huygens …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":63,"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_tribe_events_status":"","_tribe_events_status_reason":"","_tribe_events_is_hybrid":"","_tribe_events_is_virtual":"","_tribe_events_virtual_video_source":"","_tribe_events_virtual_embed_video":"","_tribe_events_virtual_linked_button_text":"","_tribe_events_virtual_linked_button":"","_tribe_events_virtual_show_embed_at":"","_tribe_events_virtual_show_embed_to":[],"_tribe_events_virtual_show_on_event":"","_tribe_events_virtual_show_on_views":"","_tribe_events_virtual_url":"","footnotes":"","uwm_wg_additional_authors":[]},"tags":[],"tribe_events_cat":[46],"class_list":["post-2926","tribe_events","type-tribe_events","status-publish","hentry","tribe_events_cat-cgca-seminars","cat_cgca-seminars"],"yoast_head":"\n
\nRob Hodyss<\/strong>, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology<\/p>\n
\nOur work at JPL focuses on understanding the fundamental chemical processes that lead to this varied landscape. Dissolution and solubility of solid organics in the lakes and seas leads to erosion of Titan\u2019s surface. The precipitation of dissolved materials as the lakes dry can result in organic evaporite deposits, which may contain novel crystalline forms only possible at cryogenic temperatures.
\nEven at Titan\u2019s low surface temperature (94 K), rapid chemical reactions are still possible. We are studying the reaction of carbon dioxide with primary amines to form carbamic acids, a reaction that occurs relatively rapidly at temperatures as low as 40 K. Titan\u2019s assorted environments and array of organic molecules are intriguing as a venue for prebiotic chemistry, and make Titan an important target for future astrobiology missions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"