Titan has more oil than Earth

According to newly published studies, Titan asteroids have more natural gas and liquid hydrocarbons than all known reserves of oil and natural gas on Earth.

Many hydrocarbons follow the rain falling on the poor moon surface accumulating into thick, wide sediments that make up the river. lake, or sand dune. This has previously been known quite well. Today, however, scientists have calculated their numbers based on observations sent by NASA's Cassini spacecraft.

Ralph Lorenz, a member of the Cassini train radar group, at Johns Hopkins University's Applied Physics Laboratory, said: 'Titan asteroid is covered by a layer of carbon-containing material - this is a factory. giant organic chemicals. It is this large amount of carbon that is an important driving force for us to explore the geology as well as the scientific history of this asteroid. '

Titan is one of 34 satellites (moon) of Saturn, the sixth planet in the solar system (Photo: Wired.com)

At a temperature of -179 ^o C (- 290 ^o F), Titan will hardly be a place to live . Instead of containing water, the sand dunes on the surface of Titan contain tholins and on the surface of the Moon contain liquid hydrocarbons in the form of methane and ethane. The term ' tholins ' was coined by Cart Sagan scientist in 1979 to describe complex organic molecules at the heart of the prebiotic chemistry.

A long time ago, just before the biology industry developed the asteroid Titan was seen as a place that resembles our Earth.

NASA said Cassini used the radar and drew about 20% of Titan's surface. Thereby, hundreds of lakes and seas have appeared, of which several dozen contain more hydrocarbon liquids than Earth's oil and gas reserves. Black sand dunes that run along the equator contain a few hundred times more organic matter than Earth's coal reserves.

Also according to the article, the natural gas reserves on Earth are known to be 130 billion tons, enough to provide 300 times the energy that all Americans use for heating, cooling, lighting in a year. . Dozens of lakes on Titan asteroids have reserves similar to those above, however they are still in the form of methane and ethane.

Lorenz adds: 'This global estimate is mainly based on projections of lakes and rivers in the northernmost regions. We also believe that the southernmost region has the same structure as the North Pole. However, how much of this liquid is still a mystery to us. '

Cassini's Rada observed the southernmost area once, and only saw two lakes on the surface of that area.

The findings above are detailed in the Geophysical Research Letters January 29.

Titan is one of 34 satellites (moon) of Saturn, the sixth planet in the solar system since the sun comes out.Saturn is located outside Jupiter.In 1979, Pioneer 11 spacecraft approached Titan and took photos.In 1980, Voyager 1 spacecraft analyzed Titan's atmosphere very rich in nitrogen like the earth's atmosphere.On Titan's face was very cold, and the scenery was rough.The surface temperature is - 291 degrees Farenheit (-179 degrees Celsius) and when Huygens is falling in the atmosphere, the lowest recorded temperature is - 333 degrees Farenheit (-202 degrees Celsius).(According to Vietsciences)

Scientists have relied on the hypothesis of rivers and lakes on Earth to estimate the depth of rivers and lakes on Titan asteroids. They took the average depth of the river and lake on Earth, considering the typical surrounding terrain such as mountains. On Earth, the depth of the lake is usually about 10 times lower than the height of the surrounding terrain.

Mr. Lorenz said: 'Many rivers and lakes are usually more than 10 m deep or very deep because radar cannot observe them all. Therefore, if they are more shallow, we may be able to see the bottom, but this has not been done yet. '

Calculating the amount of liquid on the surface is an important content because methane is a powerful greenhouse gas not only on Titan but on Earth as well . However, on Titan this amount of gas is huge. If the liquid observed on the Titan asteroid is methane, it will only last for several million years because methane flies into Titan's atmosphere, they change and then escape into space.

If methane is exhausted, Titan will become even colder. Scientists also believe that discharging into the air during volcanic eruptions (cryovolcanic eruptions) will provide methane to the atmosphere. And if this happens, the amount of methane and the temperature of this asteroid may have changed dramatically in the past.

Lorenz said: 'Our life relies heavily on carbon, so knowledge learns about the complexities of life that the industry is trying to understand as the Titan asteroid's environment will be worthless. same important, reinforcing the understanding of the origin of life from the universe. '

Artwork of Titan's surface (Photo: Isvr.soton.ac.uk)