ALMA detection and astrobiological potential of vinyl cyanide on Titan.
Maureen Y PalmerMartin A CordinerConor A NixonSteven B CharnleyNicholas A TeanbyZbigniew KisielPatrick G J IrwinMichael J MummaPublished in: Science advances (2017)
Recent simulations have indicated that vinyl cyanide is the best candidate molecule for the formation of cell membranes/vesicle structures in Titan's hydrocarbon-rich lakes and seas. Although the existence of vinyl cyanide (C2H3CN) on Titan was previously inferred using Cassini mass spectrometry, a definitive detection has been lacking until now. We report the first spectroscopic detection of vinyl cyanide in Titan's atmosphere, obtained using archival data from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), collected from February to May 2014. We detect the three strongest rotational lines of C2H3CN in the frequency range of 230 to 232 GHz, each with >4σ confidence. Radiative transfer modeling suggests that most of the C2H3CN emission originates at altitudes of ≳200 km, in agreement with recent photochemical models. The vertical column densities implied by our best-fitting models lie in the range of 3.7 × 1013 to 1.4 × 1014 cm-2. The corresponding production rate of vinyl cyanide and its saturation mole fraction imply the availability of sufficient dissolved material to form ~107 cell membranes/cm3 in Titan's sea Ligeia Mare.
Keyphrases
- fluorescent probe
- mass spectrometry
- loop mediated isothermal amplification
- lymph node metastasis
- single cell
- high resolution
- real time pcr
- label free
- liquid chromatography
- cell therapy
- high throughput
- molecular docking
- molecular dynamics
- big data
- stem cells
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- high performance liquid chromatography
- human health
- quantum dots
- sensitive detection