Methane on Mars Not Indicate The Life

CALIFORNIA - Methane gas discovery by scientists at the Mars nine years ago is believed to be signs of biological life on the planet. But now researchers at the Max Planck Institute of Chemistry and the university in Utrecht and Edinburgh were able to demonstrate that the findings of the methane was derived from meteorites. 


Launched Machineslikeus, Saturday (06/02/2012), some scientists see where methane gas as a clear indication of life on a planet. As on Earth, methane is produced primarily by biological processes, and others who assume that the gas caused by geological processes such as volcanoes. 


Recent findings by researchers from the Max Planck Institute of Chemistry revealed that the escape of methane from the meteorite occurred when irradiated with ultraviolet light (UV). Meteorites and interplanetary dust from outer space that brings together the carbon compounds. 


The researchers concluded that this high-energy UV radiation triggers the release of methane from the meteorite. This conclusion is also strengthened when scientists identified a large amount of methane in the atmosphere of Mars in 2003. 


Until now, no theory is able to convince and explain a large amount, approximately 200 to 300 tons of methane per year are produced Mars. "Methane is produced from the innumerable (countless substances), small meteorites and interplanetary dust particles that landed on the surface of Mars from space," explains lead author, Frank Keppler in his study are now being published in the research journal Nature. 


The emergence of methane can also result from exposure to sunlight or UV. "The energy provided by ultraviolet radiation is very intense," said atmospheric chemist. (FMH)

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