ISIS Neutron and Muon Source Data Journal

Liquid water on Titan: a structural study of ammonia-water solutions at low temperature

Abstract: Titan is Saturn?s largest moon, and a target of NASA's Dragonfly mission. It is an icy world whose surface likely hosts periodic interactions between organic-rich dust, and water-ice melt, rich in ammonia. We are interested in exploring these interactions and the role of ammonia in the habitability of Titan, and ocean worlds in general. This study is designed to create a mimetic surficial melt of ammonia-water ice at STP and complements the research of the Dragonfly mission that will study organic dunes at Selk crater. Our initial objectives are to establish the extent of ammonia?s perturbation of water?s hydrogen bond network and the mechanism by which this is effected. The results of this experiment will inform the design of biological experiments that address how the ammonia in such a melt impacts the self-assembly of amino acids, and the hydration of biomolecules.

Principal Investigator: Professor Lorna Dougan
Experimenter: Mr Nasralla Nasralla
Local Contact: Dr Terri-Louise Hughes
Experimenter: Dr Harrison Laurent
Experimenter: Dr Tom Headen

DOI: 10.5286/ISIS.E.RB2220489

ISIS Experiment Number: RB2220489

Publisher: STFC ISIS Neutron and Muon Source

Data format: RAW/Nexus
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Data Citation

The recommended format for citing this dataset in a research publication is as:
[author], [date], [title], [publisher], [doi]

For Example:
Professor Lorna Dougan et al; (2023): Liquid water on Titan: a structural study of ammonia-water solutions at low temperature, STFC ISIS Neutron and Muon Source, https://doi.org/10.5286/ISIS.E.RB2220489

Data is released under the CC-BY-4.0 license.