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Study Finds Hydrogen Cyanide Forms Co‑Crystals With Methane Under Titan Conditions

Peer-reviewed results identify cryogenic structures that Dragonfly could probe on the methane-rich moon.

Overview

  • NASA laboratory experiments at roughly 90 K used laser spectroscopy to show methane and ethane become incorporated into solid hydrogen cyanide without changing the molecules themselves, indicating new co-crystals.
  • Chalmers University simulations screened thousands of configurations and reproduced the spectral signatures, supporting stable HCN–hydrocarbon co-crystals at Titan-like temperatures.
  • The result challenges the usual “like dissolves like” expectation by showing a polar compound can host nonpolar hydrocarbons inside a crystal lattice under extreme cold.
  • The research, conducted by teams at NASA and Chalmers, was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in 2025.
  • Scientists say these structures could shape Titan’s surface chemistry and prebiotic pathways, and NASA’s Dragonfly—planned for a July 2028 launch with arrival about six years later—may test for them in situ.