 Mars Methane Mystery Deepens Video Credit: NASA's GSFC, ScientificVisualization Studio Explanation: The methane mystery on Marsjust got stranger. New results from ESA and Roscosmos' ExoMars Trace GasOrbiter, has unexpectedly not detected methane in the atmosphere of Mars. Thisresult follows the 2013 detection of methane by NASA's Curiosity rover, aresult seemingly confirmed by ESA's orbiting Mars Express the next day. Theissue is so interesting because life is a major producer of methane on Earth,leading to intriguing speculation that some sort of life -- possibly microbiallife -- is creating methane beneath the surface of Mars. Non-biological sourcesof methane are also possible. Pictured is a visualization of the first claimedmethane plume over Mars as detected from Earth in 2003. The new non-detectionof methane by the ExoMars Orbiter could mean that Mars has some unexpected wayof destroying methane, or that only some parts of Mars release methane -- andpossibly only at certain times. As the mystery has now deepened, humanity'sscrutiny of our neighboring planet's atmosphere will deepen as well. 火星上甲烷深藏的秘密 火星上的甲烷之谜变得扑朔迷离。欧洲航天局（ESA）和俄罗斯航天局（Roscosmos）联合的ExoMars微量气体卫星的最新结果出人意料，它并未在火星大气中检测到甲烷。而早在2013年，NASA的好奇号就再火星大气中发现了甲烷，这一结果也在第二天被ESA的火星快车号所证实。这个问题之所以如此引人注目，是因为地球上甲烷的主要制造者是地球上的生命，这引发了科学家们进行一系列有趣的推测，即某种生命（可能是微生物）正在火星表面下方产生甲烷。甲烷的非生物来源也是有可能的。这幅照片是2003年从地球上探测到的首次火星甲烷羽流的可视化效果。ExoMars微量气体卫星未探测到甲烷，这可能意味着火星具有某种意想不到的方法或者只有火星的部分区域能够释放甲烷，而且只是在特定的时间。随着这个谜团的加深，人类对这颗邻近星球大气的探测也将加强。 参考文献： https:///rKBoYvVirwA 近期文章： Astronomy Picture of the Day——卫星、光环、阴影、云：土星（卡西尼） |
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