Tag: volcanos

New Evidence for Methane a Sign of Extraterrestrial Life

Article by Sarah Kahle                                       February 10, 2021                                       (dailyuw.com)

• Scientists know that methane is produced two ways: first by living biological microbes converting carbon monoxide into methane, and second by volcanos and deep sea hydrothermal vents. A biologically active exoplanet – the kind that astronomers search star systems for – could be detected by its abundance of methane.

• The James Webb Space Telescope (pictured above) is set to launch October 2021, and will replace the aging Hubble telescope in space. The Webb telescope is particularly adept at detecting atmospheric methane on distant exoplanets.

• A team led by UW postdoctoral student Nick Wogan set out to determine whether volcanic gas emissions on terrestrial exoplanets were abundant enough to disguise any biologically produced methane, and why an abundance of methane might be a potential indication of life. “We wanted to understand whether if we look at another planet, if we see methane there, is that because of life, or is that because of some weird volcano that also produces methane?” Wogan said. The team ran many combinations of simulations that modeled a wide range of volcanic chemistries possible for a terrestrial planet.

• The researchers found that while volcanic activity did produce methane, they weren’t capable of producing abundances anywhere near the level of biogenic methane. Further, if an abundance of methane in an atmosphere did come from volcanic activity, it would be indicated by an abundance of carbon monoxide as well, which the telescopes can detect.

• Therefore, the detection of proportionately large amount of methane in an exoplanet’s atmosphere might indeed be an indication that Earth-like organisms exist there. Large amounts of oxygen-rich gases, such as carbon dioxide and water vapor, alongside the methane would strengthen the possibility of a life-supporting biosignature. Says Wogan, “Really, our best shot of finding evidence of life on another planet is probably seeing the combination of methane and carbon dioxide.”

• Another indication of methane-producing bacteria or other similar lifeforms would be a proportionately low level of carbon monoxide which is consumed and converted by bacteria.

• The research group’s findings will be particularly helpful to astronomers analyzing exoplanetary atmospheres with the James Webb Space Telescope, and may be instrumental in finding extraterrestrial methane biosignatures.

 

                 Nick Wogan

A team led by UW postdoctoral student Nick Wogan has published a paper explaining why an abundance of methane in the atmosphere of an exoplanet (any planet orbiting a star other than the Sun) might be a potential indication of life.

Scientists typically search for molecular oxygen as an indication of life (or of conditions favorable to life) on other planets, but unfortunately, the James Webb Space Telescope, set to launch October 2021, isn’t well equipped to detect it in the atmospheres of faraway planets. The new telescope, however, intended to replace the aging Hubble, is particularly adept at detecting atmospheric methane and carbon dioxide abundances.

During the Archean, an eon early in Earth’s history, the first microbes developed and began to convert carbon monoxide into methane. This process continues today. As a result, methane began to build up in the atmosphere and has remained as an indication of biologic activity on Earth ever since.

However, life is not the only process we know of that can produce methane. Volcanism, deep sea hydrothermal vents, and meteor impacts can all generate methane as well. Wogan set out to determine whether volcanic gas emissions on terrestrial exoplanets were abundant enough to disguise any biologically produced methane.

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Aliens ‘Drawing Energy From Volcano Eruptions’

by Joy Basu                        May 17, 2018                     (dailystar.co.uk)

• Sightings of alien craft around volcanic eruptions are reportedly on the rise. UFO hunters are convinced that witness accounts of bright, pulsating light, caught around the active volcanos over Yellowstone, in El Salvador, and the Colima volcano in Mexico is evidence UFO activity at these places.

• “When a medium volcano erupts it releases around 27 megatons of thermal energy. That’s a lot. Could it be that these mysterious crafts have found a way to reap the energy that is released during these events?” asks a writer on Livingist.com.

• Nigel Watson, author of the UFO Investigations Manual, says that tectonic strains in the Earth’s crust produce enough energy to naturally create columns of electrical energy and glowing balls of light in the atmosphere. Michael Persinger and Gyslaine Lafrenière who made a statistical study of the correlation between UFO sightings and seismic-related locations, say that EM fields of these type of UFOs can trigger hallucinations or trance states in people who get to near to them, which “explain the many stories of ‘alien’ abductions and other strange encounters that are experienced after a witness has seen a light in the sky.”

 

Reported sightings of alien crafts around volcanic eruptions are on the rise, according to numerous alien conspiracy websites.

While a glowing sphere was reportedly spotted over the Yellowstone volcano in the US in February, another was spotted last year in El Salvador in September.

In January 2017, alien chasers claimed a new video appeared to show a UFO burst into a ball of light after “leaving a volcano” while in 2016, there were numerous other stories on UFOs flying over active volcanos.

UFO hunters are convinced that witness accounts of bright, pulsating light, caught around the active volcanos is evidence their activity is within the nature of Earth.

Writing in Livingist.com, an author said: “When a medium volcano erupts it releases around 27 megatons of thermal energy. That’s a lot. Could it be that these mysterious crafts have found a way to reap the energy that is released during these events?”

Other UFO bloggers such as Scott C Waring, who runs ufosightingsdaily.com made wild claims about alien monitoring seismic activity, or even triggering volcanic eruptions and earthquakes.

Mr Waring said of an alleged UFO sighting by the erupting Colima volcano in Mexico: “The UFO is long, and cigar-shaped much like many of the past UFOs seen around Mexican volcanoes on live cams.

“The UFO could not leave from the mouth since there was an eruption, so they took a side path.”

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