Add a mystery on Mars

The methane on the red planet is created and disappears faster than methane on Earth, French scientists claim.

The presence of methane on Mars evokes the curiosity of many people, because this gas can be generated by geological or living organisms. Scientists at the Goddard Astronomical Center at the US Aerospace Agency (NASA) used infrared telescopes to observe 90% of Mars's surface in 2003. They found that methane The distribution is uneven in the planet's red atmosphere and its mass varies with the season. In addition, the expert team saw many giant methane columns, including columns containing about 19,000 tons of gas.

Two scientists from the University of Pierre and Marie Curie (France) use a computer model of climate on Mars to recreate the phenomena that the study noted above. They introduced models of Martian forces and chemicals that humans knew. Results showed that methane was born and destroyed with tremendous speed.

The Martian surface is a harsh environment for living organisms.(Photo: NASA)

" There is a mechanism or something that we do not know yet that the life cycle of methane on Mars is only 1/600 compared to methane on Earth ," said Franck Lefevre, one of the two researchers. .

According to Lefevre, the chemical composition of Mars's atmosphere remains a mystery until now. He observes that, at all times, the Martian atmosphere always loses an enormous amount of methane . This shows that the red planet also has a large supply of methane.

Dr. Michael Mumma, director of the Goddard Astronomical Center, said that it is important to understand why the methane gas on Mars is destroyed. Geological activity can produce methane. For example, when a volcano erupts, it releases huge amounts of methane. In addition, when the rock layers rich in olivine and pyroxene react with water, they release methane.

Even so, Mumma does not rule out the possibility that methane is produced by living organisms on Mars . Dr. Lefevre also remarked that the surface of Mars is not a favorable environment for organic life forms, but it is possible that some forms of living organisms are existing underground - where there are many pleasant conditions. more to life.