hydrocarbons tagged posts

What are the hydrocarbon seas on Titan really like? While the upcoming Dragonfly helicopter mission to Saturn’s hazy and frigid moon should arrive by 2034 to explore Titan’s atmosphere, the need remains for a mission that could study the moon’s mysterious seas and lakes, filled with liquid hydrocarbons.

But how about an aircraft that could study both the seas and skies of Titan?

A new mission concept that received funding from NASA’s Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) Program is called “TitanAir,” and features a flying boat, known as a laker...

Methanol, produced from carbon dioxide in the air, can be used to make carbon neutral fuels. But to do this, the mechanism by which methanol is turned into liquid hydrocarbons must be better understood so that the catalytic process can be optimised. Now, using sophisticated analytical techniques, researchers from ETH Zürich and Paul Scherrer Institute have gained unprecedented insight into this complex mechanism.

As we struggle to juggle the impact of emissions with our desire to maintain our energy hungry lifestyle, using carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to create new fuels is an exciting, carbon neutral alternative...

NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft captured this high-resolution, enhanced color view of Pluto’s largest moon, Charon, just before closest approach on July 14, 2015. The image combines blue, red and infrared images taken by the spacecraft’s Ralph/Multispectral Visual Imaging Camera (MVIC); the colors are processed to best highlight the variation of surface properties across Charon. Scientists have learned that reddish material in the north (top) polar region — informally named Mordor Macula — is chemically processed methane that escaped from Pluto’s atmosphere onto Charon. Charon is 754 miles (1,214 kilometers) across; this image resolves details as small as 1.8 miles (2.9 kilometers). Credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI

In June 2015, when the cameras on NASA’s approaching New Horizons spacecraft first s...

Credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI This processed image is the highest-resolution color look yet at the haze layers in Pluto’s atmosphere. Shown in approximate true color, the picture is constructed from a mosaic of four panchromatic images from the Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) splashed with Ralph/Multispectral Visible Imaging Camera (MVIC) four-color filter data, all acquired by NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft on July 14, 2015. The resolution is 0.6 miles (1 kilometer) per pixel; the sun illuminates the scene from the right.

Scientists believe the haze is a photochemical smog resulting from the action of sunlight on methane and 4 molecules in Pluto’s atmosphere, producing a complex mixture of hydrocarbons such as acetylene and ethylene...