“Mars’ Liquid Core: New Study Reveals Surprising Insights”

Nationalgeographic.co.id—A new study has uncovered interesting insights into the liquid core at the center of Mars. This study adds to the understanding of the formation and evolution of this red planet.

This research was led by the University of Bristol. His paper has been published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the US.

This study paper reveals the results of the first detection of sound waves traveling to the core of Mars. Measurements of this acoustic energy, called seismic waves, show that Mars’ liquid core is slightly denser and smaller than previously thought, and is composed of a mixture of iron and many other elements.

This finding is all the more remarkable, since the research mission was originally slated to last just over one Martian year (and two Earth years).

Although the Martian storm accelerated dust accumulation and reduced InSight’s power, NASA’s Mars lander robot NASA extended its stay. This makes geophysical data, including the marsquake signal, continue to be collected until the end of last year.

Jessica Irving, the study’s lead author and Senior Lecturer in Earth Sciences at the University of Bristol, said the results paid off for their great effort.

“The extra mission time has clearly paid off. We have made the first observations of seismic waves traveling through the Martian core. Two seismic signals, one from a very distant Martian earthquake and one from a meteorite impact on the far side of the planet, have allowed us to probe the Martian core with seismic waves,” Irving said, as quoted from the statement Univeristy of Bristol.

“We have effectively noticed the energy traveling through the heart of another planet, and now we have heard it.”

“The first measurements of the elastic properties of the Martian core have helped us investigate its composition. Not only is it a ball of iron, it also contains large amounts of sulfur, as well as other elements including small amounts of hydrogen.”

The research team used data from NASA’s InSight robot lander, a robotic spacecraft designed to probe the interior of Mars.

They used the robot to compare the seismic waves traveling through the planet’s core with the shallow areas of transiting Mars, and model the properties of its interior.

The InSight lander robot used broadband seismometers on the surface of Mars in 2018, enabling it to detect seismic events, including Martian earthquakes and meteorite impacts.