What gases is Jupiter's moon "Titan" made of?

[bs2taa]

I remember on the discovery channel that this was one of the only planets that was suitable for life.<br /><br />or was it another? atlas I think? erg... I don't know <img src="/images/icons/frown.gif" /><br /><br />But anyways, Is this true?<br /><br />If so, What gases is it composed of?

 

[thalion]

Titan is Saturn's moon, not Jupiter's. It is probably not a suitable habitat for life, due to extremely cold temperatures. Its atmospheric composition is not well known, but that will almost certainly change with Huygens and Cassini's measurements. So far as I know, the composition is roughly 90% nitrogen, with argon and methane making up the difference.

 

[CalliArcale]

The question of what worlds are suitable for life is a matter of great debate. I suspect the answer depends on two things -- how far we're willing to stretch the definition of "suitable" by putting manmade structures on them to support life, and what kind of life there might be. To to be totally honest, we don't really know what limits life has, so it's hard to say for absolute certain that life can't exist in a particular setting.<br /><br />Titan is a moon that is a good candidate for life, because it seems to have some kind of active processes going on. That provides energy, which life needs. It also has complex chemicals, which are handy for life. Whether or not life exploits them is another question. Life on Titan would probably have to be anaerobic -- there is very little (if any) free oxygen on the moon. There is precedent for anaerobic bacteria, but none at the extreme temperatures found on Titan. It is *very* cold there. The kind of life we're used to encountering here on Earth would either go into a sort of stasis (bacteria are quite rugged, and many of them will do just fine once they get a chance to warm up and have access to some water) or will perish altogether. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><font color="#666699"><em>"People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly . . . timey wimey . . . stuff."</em>  -- The Tenth Doctor, "Blink"</font></p> </div>