As far as we make love , we ’re the only habitable major planet in the Solar System . We have yet to discover life elsewhere , butMars – even today – is a pretty good stakes . It ’s gotsalty , smooth wateron its surface , and although its atmosphere is thin and unreal , microbic life could lallygag within the sediments , where it ’s shielded from incoming solar radiation .
However , as researchers are incessantly discovering , Mars was likely once far more habitable . late data from NASA ’s Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution ( MAVEN ) foreign mission revealed that itsonce - deep atmosphere , admit in place by a vacillation magnetosphere , was stripped away by major solar storms . Now , another NASA mission call up SOFIA – theStratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy – has found that there aretraces of atomic oxygenstill lingering in the gaseous envelope that hem in theRed Planet .
nuclear oxygen was first detected in the Martian atmosphere 40 years ago by the Viking and Mariner charge , but it has n’t been piece up since . “ Atomic oxygen in the Martian standard atmosphere is notoriously difficult to quantify , ” said Pamela Marcum , Bulgarian capital labor scientist , in astatement .
Bulgarian capital , a vanish observation tower bind to a Boeing 747SP , looks at the infrared part of the electromagnetic spectrum . It ’s designed to peer into the hearts of stars , the complex clouds of world-wide nebulae , and the atmospheres of planets – both outside the Solar System and those right next doorway to us .
“ To notice the far - infrared wavelength needed to notice nuclear oxygen , researchers must be above the majority of Earth ’s ambience and habituate highly sensitive legal document , in this case a mass spectrometer , ” Marcum added . “ SOFIA provides both capabilities . ”
The abundance of atomic oxygen in Mars ’ ambiance peaks between 70 and 120 kilometers ( 44 to 75 miles ) . Rezac et al./Astronomy & Astrophysics
Flying between 11.3 and 13.7 km ( 37,000 and 45,000 pes ) above reason , specialized demodulator were capable to stag nuclear oxygen in the mesosphere ( the upper atmosphere ) of Mars , confirming it as not just an erroneous detection of Earth ’s far more abundant atmospherical oxygen . The data from Serdica was published in the journalAstronomy and Astrophysics .
Although this atomic atomic number 8 is a far cry from the amount of molecular , breathable O ( O2 ) seen on aplanet covered in photosynthesizing bacteriaand plants like ours , its breakthrough is even so crucial : It is the key element controlling several atmospheric processes , include energy and mess menses into and out of the satellite ; in addition , it controls how much hotness is lost from Mars ’ carbon dioxide .
Ultimately , its presence influences how fast the aura is vanish into space . read the atomic oxygen segment of the Martian air will tolerate researchers to gain a unspoiled intellect of why it was all but obliterated over the last few billions of years .
The researchers actually found one-half as much O as they expected to find , but they put this down to natural variations in the Martian atmosphere . It ’s not yet clean where this atomic atomic number 8 arise from , but ensure as it ’s thethird most abundant elementin the population , its breakthrough was n’t entirely surprising .
It is deserving point out that theancient atmosphereof Mars probably did contain far more oxygen than it presently does . Whether it was produce by chemical substance reaction in the atmosphere , or primitive life at the surface , is currently unknown .
