Despite its average temperature being 180 degrees below zero, the surface of the moon Titan bears a striking resemblance to Earth . This is confirmed by two papers presented at the General Assembly of the International Astronomical Union, which assure that the environmental conditions of the moon of Saturn are surprisingly similar to those presented by the Earth at the time life emerged.
"Titan is more like Earth than any other body in the Solar System," says geologist Rosaly Lopes, a geologist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Among other things, on this satellite there are mountain ranges and dunes . Most importantly, it is the only moon with a small atmosphere , and the only celestial body other than Earth that has permanent deposits of liquid on its surface. However, its rivers and lakes do not contain water, but liquid ethane and methane , which fall in the form of rain or snow and have their own hydrological cycle.
According to Robert Nelson, Lopes' partner at NASA, the next challenge will be to find out if the processes taking place today on Titan could support a pre-biotic chemistry similar to the one that preceded the appearance of life on our planet.
