Abstract EANA2026-13

Saturn’s moon Titan is renowned for its unique atmosphere. Like the Earth, Titan’s atmosphere is composed mostly of nitrogen, and features an active meteorology of winds, clouds and rain, leading to rivers and lakes on a solid surface. However, unlike Earth, Titan’s atmosphere has virtually no water or oxygen. In its cold climate, weather is driven by evaporation and condensation of methane, and an active photochemistry leads to the creation of complex organic molecules (COMs). These are known to include hydrocarbons and nitriles, traces of CO, CO2 and H2O, and larger PAHs, macromolecules and fractal aggregates and of yet-undetermined composition and structure. As in the anoxic atmosphere of the Hadean Earth, Titan may be creating the raw ingredients for life, but the extent of the chemical complexity remains unknown. To expand our knowledge of Titan’s chemistry an active campaign of astronomical spectroscopy has been underway, following the successes of Cassini-Huygens mission. Observations are being pursued with optical, infrared and sub-millimeter telescopes, aimed at further unraveling clues as to the hidden atmospheric ingredients. This presentation will describe the latest results from ALMA, IRTF and other observatories in the search for complex molecules on Titan, summarize the key open questions, and discuss the ongoing and future near-term work that will help to provide answers.