A Martian meteorite suggests the Red Planet and Earth weren't created at the same speed.
A one-of-a-kind meteorite from Mars has an unexpected chemistry that could refine scientists’ models of how terrestrial planets form, according to a new study of the old space rock.
Those gasses weren’t just any chemicals. They were volatiles, chemical elements and compounds that vaporize very easily. Volatiles include hydrogen, carbon, oxygen, and nitrogen, as well as noble gasses, which are inert elements that don’t react with their environment. On Earth, those chemicals eventually allowed our world to develop and support life., a postdoctoral fellow in the Institute of Geochemistry and Petrology at ETH Zürich compared two Martian sources of the noble gas krypton.
If the atmosphere was delivered by space rock, planetary scientists would expect the volatiles in a planet’s atmosphere to match those from chondritic meteorites, not the solar nebula. Instead, Péron found that the krypton from the Martian interior is nearly purely chondritic, while the atmosphere is solar.
Scientists often look to Mars to study the early solar system precisely because of how fast it is thought to have formed. Mars, which is a tenth of the size of Earth, is also far less geologically active, which means the Red Planet probably preserves a lot of the conditions of our planetary neighborhood’s earliest days.
Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Mars looks more vivid than ever in new photos from Perseverance roverNASA’s Perseverance Mars rover is sending back stunning images as it explores an ancient river delta in Jezero crater for signs of life
Read more »
Mars rover Perseverance spots shiny silver litter on the Red Planet (photo)The detritus is not evidence of litterbug Martians.
Read more »
Fastest-growing black hole ever seen is devouring the equivalent of 1 Earth per secondThis behemoth has been powering an ultrabright quasar for 9 billion years.
Read more »
Super-Earth Found Orbiting Nearby Red Dwarf Ross 508 | Sci-News.comUsing the radial velocity technique, astronomers have discovered a super-Earth exoplanet orbiting near the inner edge of the habitable zone of the cool M-dwarf Ross 508.
Read more »
Astronomers discovered a nearby star hosting two rocky Earth-like planetsAnd 'there might be more planets in the system.'🌌
Read more »
NASA Astronauts Prepare For Mission To Mars By Spending Year Living In Simulated Colony On VenusGOEPPERT-MAYER CRATER, VENUS—Saying the team would return with invaluable knowledge about what’s needed to survive in a hostile environment, NASA astronauts reportedly began preparing for a mission to Mars by spending a year living in a simulated colony on Venus. “While it may not exactly mimic the planetary…
Read more »