Presentation given in November 2017 for UGA’s Astronomy Journal (ASTR 8210) class for Physics and Astronomy Graduate Students and Faculty. The goal of this class and student presentations are to review and summarize current Astronomy research publications and then present for peer and faculty review. This presentation focuses on 2 Astrobiology research papers investigating the potential feasibility of life to form in liquid Methane based environments such that exists on Saturn’s moon Titan. Those papers are as follows:
Membrane alternatives in worlds without oxygen: Creation of an azotosome
Stevenson et al. Sci. Adv. 2015;1:e1400067 27 February 2015
ALMA detection and astrobiological potential of vinyl cyanide on Titan
Palmer et al., Sci. Adv. 2017;3: e1700022 28 July 2017
The presentation is broken up into 3 parts due to the large file sizes of the first 2 parts with videos. Download in order, run in presentation mode, and then click at your own pace.
Part 1
Part 1 provides an overview of the Cassini mission and the scientific instruments on the main Cassini probe as well as the Huygen probe which landed on Titan in 2005. Besides summary text, this consist of several videos and animated GIFs from NASA, etc. highlighting the Cassini mission and key discoveries.
Astrobiological Potential on Titan-Part 1
Part 2
Due to the unique subject of Astrobiology to Astronomy students, the presenter provides an overview of chemical and biological evolution on Earth in Part 2. This mostly consists of an “Origin of Life on Earth” video created by editing parts of various documentaries and adding sub-titles for narration.
Astrobiological Potential on Titan-Part 2
Part 3
This section contains the summary of the 2 research papers with most of the information relevant to the topic. It also provides background information on ALMA, as well as a summary of the importance of the findings and suggestions for follow up research.
Astrobiological Potential on Titan-Part 3