Large Quantities of Methane Being Replenished on Mars Written by Nancy Atkinson
Methane has been measured in large quantities in Mars atmosphere over several seasons, meaning Mars is active, either geologically or biologically. "We found methane," said Dr. Geronimo Villanueva from the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, one member of a team of scientists reporting on their research at a press conference today at NASA Headquarters. "We can measure not only the methane, and but where it is coming from and when it is being released." This is the first definitive detection of methane on Mars that includes maps identifying areas of active release. "Mars is active," said Michael Meyers, lead NASA scientist for the Mars Program, "but we don't know if it's because of biology or geology or both."
The methane on Mars was first detected in 1999, again in 2001 and 2003, which was widely reported, but not much was known about the origin or amount of the gas on Mars. The research team found methane in the atmosphere of Mars by carefully observing the planet over several Mars years, and during all the Martian seasons with NASA's Infrared Telescope Facility, run by the University of Hawaii, and the W. M. Keck telescope, both at Mauna Kea, Hawaii.
Measurements were made using spectroscopy by which light is split into its individual wavelengths, and then the "fingerprint" of individual molecules can be identified.
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