Tag Archive for 'Hydrogen cyanide'

An artistic rendering of Kraken Mare, a large liquid methane sea on Titan. Image credit: NASA’s John Glenn Research Center.

Unexpected Mixture of Hydrogen Cyanide and Hydrocarbons May Exist on Saturn’s Moon Titan

Oct 21, 2025 by Natali Anderson

Titan offers great motivation for the detailed study of organic chemistry in unconventional conditions. Nonpolar hydrocarbons such as ethane and methane...

Illustration of plume activity on Enceladus. Image credit: Peter et al., doi: 10.1038/s41550-023-02160-0.

Planetary Researchers Detect Hydrogen Cyanide in Plume of Enceladus

Dec 17, 2023 by News Staff

Using data from NASA’s Cassini mission, planetary scientists have detected several compounds of strong importance to the habitability of Saturn’s icy...

An artist’s impression of the massive star-forming region, with the planet-forming disk XUE 1 in the foreground. Image credit: Maria Cristina Fortuna, www.mariacristinafortuna.com.

Webb Detects Various Molecules in Extremely Irradiated Protoplanetary Disk

Dec 1, 2023 by News Staff

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope have detected abundant water, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, hydrogen cyanide and acetylene...

ALMA Detects Various Organic Molecules in Five Protoplanetary Disks

Sep 15, 2021 by News Staff

Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) have mapped out 18 organic and inorganic molecules in protoplanetary disks around...

This picture of Neptune was produced from the last whole planet images taken through the green and orange filters on the narrow angle camera of NASA’s Voyager 2 spacecraft. The images were taken at a range of 7.1 million km (4.4 million miles) from the planet, 4 days and 20 hours before closest approach. The picture shows the Great Dark Spot and its companion bright smudge; on the west limb the fast moving bright feature called Scooter and the little dark spot are visible. These clouds were seen to persist for as long as Voyager’s cameras could resolve them. North of these, a bright cloud band similar to the south polar streak may be seen. Image credit: NASA / JPL.

ALMA Detects Hydrogen Cyanide Belt in Stratosphere of Neptune

May 21, 2021 by News Staff

Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) have produced a detailed map of intensity and abundance of gaseous hydrogen cyanide...

This image shows an artist’s impression of winds in Jupiter’s stratosphere near the planet’s south pole, with the blue lines representing wind speeds; these lines are superimposed on a real image of Jupiter, taken by the JunoCam imager aboard NASA’s Juno spacecraft. Image credit: ESO / L. Calçada / NASA / JPL-Caltech / SwRI / MSSS.

ALMA Detects Strong Winds in Stratosphere of Jupiter

Mar 25, 2021 by News Staff

Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) have revealed incredibly powerful winds — with speeds of up to 1,450 kmh...

ALMA image of 46P/Wirtanen taken on December 2, 2018, as the comet approached Earth. The image shows the concentration and distribution of HCN molecules near the center of the comet’s coma. Image credit: ALMA / ESO / NAOJ / NRAO / M. Cordiner / NASA / CUA.

ALMA Takes Close Look at Comet 46P/Wirtanen

Dec 24, 2018 by News Staff

Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) captured the radio image of 46P/Wirtanen on December 2, 2018, when the comet...

Artist’s impression of the dusty gaseous torus around an active supermassive black hole. Image credit: ALMA / ESO / NAOJ / NRAO.

ALMA Spots Rotating Dusty Gaseous Torus around Messier 77’s Central Black Hole

Feb 15, 2018 by News Staff

High resolution observations using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) have revealed the presence of a rotating dusty gaseous torus...

The starburst galaxy NGC 253 and the radio spectra obtained with ALMA. Image credit: ESO / J. Emerson / VISTA / ALMA / NAOJ / NRAO / Ando et al / Cambridge Astronomical Survey Unit.

ALMA Spots Huge ‘Molecular Reservoir’ in Nearby Starburst Galaxy NGC 253

Nov 7, 2017 by News Staff

Using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), astronomers have found eight molecular clouds in the heart of NGC 253, an active starburst...

This view of Titan is among the last images NASA’s Cassini spacecraft sent to Earth before it plunged into the giant planet’s atmosphere. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / Space Science Institute.

Toxic Ice Cloud Found in Titan’s Stratosphere

Oct 19, 2017 by News Staff

Planetary researchers with NASA’s Cassini mission have detected a cloud of toxic hybrid ice high above the south pole of Saturn’s hazy moon, Titan. This...

This composite image shows an infrared view of Titan. In this image blue represents wavelengths centered at 1.3 microns, green represents 2.0 microns, and red represents 5.0 microns. A view at visible wavelengths would show only Titan’s hazy atmosphere; the near-infrared wavelengths in this image allow Cassini’s vision to penetrate the haze and reveal the moon’s surface. The view looks toward terrain that is mostly on the Saturn-facing hemisphere of Titan. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / Space Science Institute.

Hydrogen Cyanide: Key to Prebiotic Conditions on Saturn’s Moon Titan

Jul 6, 2016 by News Staff

A team of researchers from Cornell University in Ithaca, NY, has uncovered a chemical trail that suggests prebiotic conditions may exist on the surface...

In this image, the larger-scale structure of NGC 1097 is easily visible. Image credit: ESO / R. Gendler.

Astronomers Measure Mass of Supermassive Black Hole in NGC 1097

Jun 18, 2015 by News Staff

Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, or ALMA, a network of several dozen radio dishes located in the high-elevation desert...