Reno Reporter

A planetary scientist is scheduled to visit the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR) and give a lecture on Saturn's largest moon, Titan.

Sarah Hörst will speak with Davidson Academy students and TRiO scholars and faculty on Dec. 1, according to a news release from the university. Her Discover Science lecture is called "Toxic Titan." 

Hörst is known for studying Titan's atmosphere, which contains carbon, a critical component in organic chemistry, the news release noted.

"There's a lot of it, and it has this great bonding behavior," Hörst said in the news release. 

Titan's atmosphere stores energy that is tethered in long chains and has "all the things that we think life has to do," Hörst said. "Life as we don't know it will still probably be carbon-based."

Carbon is usually what scientists refer to when they discuss organic atmospheres and materials, according to the news release. Titan's complex atmosphere perplexes scientists, who believe that Saturn's moon might have the best potential to sustain extraterrestrial life in the solar system. The European Space Agency sent the Huygens Probe to Titan's surface so scientists could learn more about the moon.

It is challenging to say how life could survive on other moons or planets, due to the fact that life on Earth is carbon- and water-based, the news release noted. Hörst compared it to constructing a house that is suited to the habitat where you live. Earth has a great supply of carbon and water, which sustains life on the planet. More data from space missions is needed to determine what other compounds and elements are needed to sustain life on non-Earth bodies.

"We can work together to learn about the world around us," Hörst said. "I think that's one of the things that's cool about my job. Also, planets are cool."