, 2008). In particular, we developed conceptual designs for delivering the science payload, including an orbiter, an aerial platform and probes for Titan. The suggested launch date is around or beyond 2018. I will discuss the implications of
recent and future observations on our understanding of Titan. Coustenis, A., and 154 co-authors, 2008. TandEM: Titan and Enceladus mission. Astrophysical Instruments AUY-922 clinical trial and Methods, in press. E-mail: Athena.Coustenis@obspm.fr ORAL PRESENTATIONS Planetary Evolution The Organic Chemistry of Nearby Galaxies Measured with a New, Very Broadband Receiver G. Narayanan1, R. L. Snell1, N. A. Erickson1, A. Chung1, M. Heyer1, Y. Min1, W. M. Irvine1,2 1Astronomy Department, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003 USA; 2The Goddard Center for Astrobiology Millimeter-wavelength spectra of a number of nearby galaxies have been obtained at the Five College Radio Astronomy Observatory (FCRAO) in Massachusetts using a new, very broadband receiver (Erickson et al., 2007). This instrument, which we call the redshift search receiver (RSR), has an instantaneous bandwidth of 36 GHz and operates from 74 to 110.5 GHz, Tideglusib in vitro permitting
the measurement of most of the 3 mm spectrum with a single receiver setting. The receiver has been built at UMass/FCRAO to be part of the initial instrumentation for the Large Millimeter Telescope (LMT), a 50-m diameter millimeter-wavelength single-dish telescope being built jointly by UMass and the Instituto Nacional de Astrofísica, Óptica
y Electrónica in Mexico (Perez-Grovas et al., 2006). The LMT is sited at 4,600 m elevation at latitude 19° in the Mexican state of Puebla, permitting good access to the southern sky. It is designed for operation in the 0.85–4 mm wavelength band. The new receiver is intended for determination of the redshift and hence distance of distant, dust-obscured galaxies, but it can also be used to investigate the chemistry of galaxies. Since the LMT is not yet complete (we are hoping for initial 3 mm find protocol commissioning this year), the receiver is being tested on the FCRAO 14 m by measuring the 3 mm spectra of a number of nearby galaxies. There are interesting differences in the chemistry of these objects, e.g., in the relative strength of emission lines from HCN, HNC, HCO+, CH3OH, 6-phosphogluconolactonase 13CO, CS and N2H+ (a proxy for N2). Erickson, N. R., Narayanan, G., Goeller, R., & Grosslein, R. (2007). From Z-Machines to ALMA: (Sub)Millimeter Spectroscopy of Galaxies, 375, 71 Perez-Grovas, A. S., Schloerb, P. F., Hughes, D., & Yun, M. (2006). SPIE, 6267: 1. E-mail: irvine@astro.umass.edu Investigation of Isovaline Enantiomeric Excesses and Other C5 Amino Acids in Carbonaceous Meteorites Jason P. Dworkin, Daniel P. Glavin Goddard Center for Astrobiology, Solar System Exploration Division, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA The origin of biological homochirality is one of the most perplexing puzzles to understanding the emergence of life on Earth.