Tholin

Tholins (derived from the Greek word for muddy) refers to those organic molecules that are considered precursors to the building blocks of life. Although the typical spectrum of the compounds is known, the exact structure is still unclear.

Because of spectral sky foreign body is suspected Tholin hetero- polymer is formed by ultraviolet radiation from simple organic substances such as methane or ethane. The substance has a reddish - brown color, which, in turn, significantly different from iron oxide.

The astronomer Carl Sagan discovered in the atmosphere of Saturn's moon Titan, a substance, which he described as reddish organic component of planetary surfaces. Later it was also demonstrated on comets Tholin, but not on the ground.

A number of bacteria are capable of using as a carbon source Tholins. Therefore, it is believed that they played a role in the formation and metabolism of the first micro-organisms in the early history of the Earth.

Outside our solar system, the substance in 2007 in the dust disk around the star HR 4796A (220 light years from Earth ) was first identified.