If the atmospheres of several planets contain methane, does that mean that they smell bad?

Well...It all depends on how you carried out the experiment. If you went there, landed on the planet's surface and stuck your nose out of the spacesuit, it would be frozen-off so that your sense of smell would fail before your brain had a chance to register anything. So, I would say that the planets Saturn, Uranus and Neptune do not have a bad smell because there is no way for a human to ever conduct the experiment. Of course methane gas on Earth does not even have a foul odor; it is odorless unless mixed with other trace gases. Usually, where ever methane is formed organically on the Earth, there are plenty of trace gases to choose from!


Copyright 1997 Dr. Sten Odenwald
Return to Ask the Astronomer.