Indian Scientist Finds 'Patterned' Evidence Of Activity On Mars Surface
Earth's closest planetary neighbour Mars may be active, Indian scientists say.?Known for its desolate deserts, Mars may have harboured life at one point - sharing characteristics that we now have on Earth. Fighting all assumptions about Mars being a dormant planet with no activity on it, Indian scientists have found evidence of activity.
Thousands of tracks created by falling boulders point to the existence of some amount of activity on the Red Planet. The research, led by S. Vijayan, assistant professor at the Physical Research Laboratory in Ahmedabad studied high-resolution images of the Red Planet from 2006-2020 to track patterns that point to boulder movement.
Boulders on Mars leave patterns
"We searched all the images and found BFE (boulder fall ejecta) present in large numbers suggesting recent falls are common and widespread," the researchers wrote in the paper published in Geophysical Research Letters, a peer-reviewed journal.
Boulder tracks on Mars take 2-4 Martian years (4-8 years on Earth) to disappear. On Earth, such tracks rarely survive for long.
Also read:?Elon Musk Believes SpaceX Flight To Mars Possible Within 10 Years
About 30% of these tracks are located in the Cerberus Fossae region on Mars, close to where NASA's InSight mission landed in November 2018. This suggests that it is "a currently active region on Mars."
How does this research help anybody? Seismic activity on Mars could be understood better by researchers before travelling to the Red Planet in the near-future as space exploration takes shape.
Also read:?NASA's Perseverance Rover Finds Organic Chemicals On Mars: Proof Of Life?
When boulders fall from heights, they bounce off the surface and spew out material. Initial bounces produced more material (ejecta) and eventually slowed down on a downward slope. This is insightful for future Mars exploration missions.
Did you know that Mars had active regions, as claimed by Indian scientists? Let us know in the comments below.?For more in the world of?technology?and?science, keep reading?Indiatimes.com.?
References
Gadgets 360. (2022, January 27). Indian Scientists Say Mars Is Active, Find Unique Patterns Created by Falling Boulders on Its Surface. NDTV Gadgets 360. h
