Mysterious methane on Mars

Mars may not be "quiet" as scientists once thought. The discovery of methane in 2004 shows that or there is life on Mars, or volcanic activity continues to generate heat beneath the surface of the planet. ESA plans to find out which hypothesis is correct. Any result is a 'blockbuster' news for a planet once thought to have no biological and geological activity.

The mystery of methane began in December 2003 when ESA's Mars Exploration Ship went into orbit around the red planet. When planetary spectrometer (PFS) begins recording data, Vittorio Formisano, Istituto di Fisica dello Spazio Interplanetario CNR, Rome, and the rest of the device group observe a confusing signal. Along with the atmospheric gases they predicted, such as carbon monoxide and water vapor, they also observed methane.

Agustin Chicarro, ESA Mars scientist, said: ' Methane is a surprise, we did not expect to find this gas'. The reason is because most of methane gas on Earth is released by developed life forms , such as cattle digesting food. While there are other ways to create methane without life, such as energy activity, it is most likely biological processes.

The Mars probe's methane detection is not the only case. Two astronomical groups using ground telescopes have been searching for traces of methane on Mars. After 5 years of unrelenting work, the observations all confirmed the presence of methane and raised a big question for scientists.

The ship explores Mars. (Photo: Alex Lutkus)

Methane is thought to be stable in the Mars atmosphere for about 300 years. So whatever creates methane on Mars, it's a recent event. In January 2009, a team led by Michael Mumma of NASA's Goddard Space Center published results showing that methane they observed in 2003 focused on three regions on the planet. This confirms that methane is released at the present time and is observed before it has time to distribute itself on Mars.

However everything suddenly turned upside down. Rather than needing 300 years to disappear, methane almost completely vanished from Mars in early 2006. There is obviously something unusual going on on this planet. Frank Lefèvre, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, CNRS, Paris and also a member of the Mars probe's SPICAM equipment group, said: 'We thought we understood the operation of methane on Mars, but If these measurements are correct, we must have missed something important.

Together with colleague Fracois Forget, a multidisciplinary scientist of the Mars probe, the atmospheric research manager and Université Pierre et Marie Curie, CNRS, Paris, Lefèvre studied the disappearance of methane through use computer models for Mars's climate. He said: 'We have solved the problem as atmospheric physicists, without worrying about the nature of the source of methane'.

In the results published last week they found that, while the computer model could be at creating atmospheric components such as carbon monoxide and ozone, it could not reproduce the activity of methane. Lefèvre said: 'Something has removed methane from the atmosphere 600 times faster than the model can create. Therefore, this source must be 600 times stronger than the original predictions'.

To eliminate methane at such a rate, doubts focus on the surface of the planet. Or methane is trapped in dust or reactive chemicals such as hydrogen peroxide that destroys methane, as suggested by the 1970s Viking ship. If the latter is true, the surface of Mars is more severe. much for organic molecules (carbon-containing molecules) compared to previous thoughts. This makes it much more difficult to find traces of life in the past or present.

To understand the mystery of methane, ESA and the Italian National Space Agency (ASI) will hold an international three-day workshop in November. Scientific people will discuss conclusions and strategies next Plan for future methane research. At the seminar, the Mars probe PFS team hopes to map out the map of methane on Mars. Oliver Witasse, ESA's Mars probe project scientist, said: 'Methane mapping is our top priority in the last few months.'

In July, ESA agreed with NASA to launch a new spacecraft to Mars. The topic of methane is particularly important and it will be focused on dealing with future spacecraft. Witasse commented: 'Understanding methane on Mars is an important issue'.

Regardless of how the methane problem is explained, it will make Mars a more interesting planet than ever.

Refer:

1. F. Lefèvre and F. Forget.Observed variations of methane on Mars unexplained by known atmospheric chemistry and physics.Nature, 2009;DOI: 10.1038 / nature08228