Sentences with phrase «form ethane»

When ultraviolet rays from the sun fall on methane, they break the molecule into components that form ethane, a constituent of natural gas on Earth.

Not exact matches

The Methods: Photochemical modeling by a Caltech team indicates that ethane, a hydrocarbon detected on Titan by both of the Voyager spacecraft and the European Infrared Space Observatory, is created when solar ultraviolet light breaks down methane, a minor component of Titan's nitrogen - rich atmosphere, into a stew of organic molecules that form a dense orange - brown smog.

Methane and ethane rain down from the smoggy sky, forming vast hydrocarbon swamps.

Hunten contends that molecules of ethane can't form droplets, so they instead cling to smog particles in Titan's atmosphere.

The key ingredient is gas hydrate, a substance that forms when hydrocarbon gases like methane and ethane come into contact with water at the right temperature and pressure.

With an increase in pressure, water and carbon dioxide remain stable, but at pressures above 93 gigapascals (0.93 million atmospheres) methane begins to decompose forming heavy hydrocarbons — ethane, butane, and polyethylene.

Some of these deposits could be eroded by ethane rain, forming a complex, cave - riddled landscape.

We have further observations planned that will probe Pluto's atmosphere and map the distributions of hydrocarbon gases such as ethane, acetylene and ethylene that condense to form the aerosols.

It is known that larger hydrocarbon molecules like ethane and propane can also form hydrates, although longer molecules (butanes, pentanes) can not fit into the water cage structure and tend to destabilise the formation of hydrates.

Dozens of Titan's lakes individually have the equivalent of at least this much energy in the form of methane and ethane.