Tholin is a heteropolymer formed by solar ultraviolet irradiation of simple organic compounds such as methane or ethane. Tholins do not form naturally on modern-day Earth, but are found in great abundance on the surface of icy bodies in the outer solar system. A heteropolymer, also called a copolymer, is a polymer formed when two (or more) different types of monomer are linked in the same polymer chain, as opposed to a homopolymer where only one monomer is used. ... “UV” redirects here. ... Benzene is the simplest of the arenes, a family of organic compounds An organic compound is any member of a large class of chemical compounds whose molecules contain carbon and hydrogen; therefore, carbides, carbonates, carbon oxides and elementary carbon are not organic (see below for more on the definition controversy... Methane is a chemical compound with the molecular formula CH4. ... Ethane is a chemical compound with chemical formula C2H6. ... This article is about Earth as a planet. ... Major features of the Solar System (not to scale; from left to right): Pluto, Neptune, Uranus, Saturn, Jupiter, the asteroid belt, the Sun, Mercury, Venus, Earth and its Moon, and Mars. ...

"Triton tholin" and "Titan tholin" are nitrogen-rich organic substances produced by the irradiation of gaseous mixtures of nitrogen and methane such as that found in those moons' atmospheres; Triton's atmosphere is 99.9% nitrogen and 0.1% methane and Titan's atmosphere is 98.4% nitrogen and the remaining 1.6% composed of methane and trace amounts of other gases. These atmospherically derived substances are distinct from "ice tholin", which is formed by irradiation of clathrates of water and organic compounds such as methane or ethane. The plutino Ixion is also high in this compound. Triton (trye-tÉ™n, IPA: , Greek Τρίτων), or Neptune I, is the planet Neptunes largest moon. ... Titan (, from Ancient Greek Τῑτάν) or Saturn VI is the largest moon of Saturn and the second largest moon in the solar system,[4] after Jupiters moon Ganymede. ... General Name, Symbol, Number nitrogen, N, 7 Chemical series nonmetals Group, Period, Block 15, 2, p Appearance colorless gas Standard atomic weight 14. ... Methane is a chemical compound with the molecular formula CH4. ... A clathrate or clathrate compound is a chemical substance consisting of a Greek klethra, meaning bars (in the sense of a lattice). ... Impact from a water drop causes an upward rebound jet surrounded by circular capillary waves. ... In astronomy, a plutino is a trans-Neptunian object that has a 3:2 orbital resonance with Neptune. ... 28978 Ixion (IPA pronunciation: , Wiktionary:Ixion) is a Kuiper belt object discovered on May 22, 2001. ...

The surfaces of comets, centaurs, and many icy moons in the outer solar system are rich in deposits of Triton, Titan and ice tholins. Some researchers have speculated that Earth may have been seeded by organic compounds early in its development by tholin-rich comets, providing the raw material necessary for life to develop; see Urey-Miller experiment for discussion related to this issue. Comet Hale-Bopp Comet West For other uses, see Comet (disambiguation). ... The centaurs are a class of icy planetoids that orbit the Sun between Jupiter and Neptune, named after the mythical race of centaurs. ... The Miller-Urey experiment attempts to recreate the chemical conditions of the primitive Earth in the laboratory, and synthesized some of the building blocks of life. ...

The term "tholin" (from the Greek word meaning "muddy") was coined by famed astronomer Carl Sagan to describe the difficult-to-characterize substances he obtained in his Urey-Miller-type experiments on the gas mixtures that are found in Titan's atmosphere.^[1] It is not a specific compound but is a term generally used to describe the reddish, organic component of planetary surfaces. Insert non-formatted text here Carl Edward Sagan (November 9, 1934 – December 20, 1996) was an American astronomer and astrobiologist and a highly successful popularizer of astronomy, astrophysics, and other natural sciences. ...

References

• Waite, J.H.; D.T. Young & T.E. Cravens et al. (2007-05-11), "The process of tholin formation in Titan's upper atmosphere", Science 316 (5826): 870-5