RockedBuzz — Scientists have found a network of salty liquid water lakes on Mars beneath the planet’s south pole, according to new research published Monday in the journal Nature Astronomy.
An international team examined radar data from MARSIS, short for Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionosphere Sounding . This instrument on the Mars Express orbiter bounces radio waves off the surface and measures their echoes to image geological structures.
Two years ago, these investigations revealed a subglacial lake 1.5 kilometers below the surface. The lake is in a region called Ultimi Scopuli near the red planet’s south pole and measures about 20 kilometers across.
Further investigations and analysis of new data from Mars Express have found three additional salty lakes, each a few kilometers wide.
This water would likely be saturated with salts, which would keep it liquid at temperatures as low as 150 degrees Kelvin. Life exists in subglacial lakes on Earth , like Lake Vostok in Antarctica,so these Martian lakes could harbor remnants of life that evolved when the planet had a more hospitable climate and liquid water on the surface.
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the surface of mars is bone dry and seemingly devoid of life but experts have long speculated that life could exist on mars and water under the surface in 2018 they found evidence of one lake at the martian south pole now a new study has found an entire cluster of lakes here is what they discovered scientists have found a network of salty liquid water lakes on mars beneath the planet’s south pole according to new research published monday in the journal nature astronomy an international team examined radar data from marsys short for mars advanced radar for subsurface and ionosphere sounding this instrument on the mars express orbiter bounces radio waves off the surface and it measures their echoes to image geological structures two years ago these investigations revealed a subglacial lake 1.5 kilometers below the surface the lake is in a region called uhime scopoli near the red planet south pole and measures about 20 kilometers across further investigations and analysis of new data from mars express have found three additional salty lakes each a few kilometers wide because mars lacks a substantial atmosphere the resulting low pressure on the planet’s surface makes it impossible for liquid water to form but the planet had seas and lakes billions of years ago and liquid water could still exist under the surface this water would likely be saturated with salts which would keep it liquid at temperatures as low as 150 degrees kelvin life exists in subglacial lakes on earth like lake vostok in antarctica so these martian lakes could harbor remnants of life that evolved when the planet had a more hospitable climate and liquid water on the surface this new study comes just a few weeks after scientists reported finding potential signs of life in the clouds of venus astronomers have speculated for decades that life could exist in the clouds of venus now a shocking discovery is making scientists take this idea very very seriously here is what they found in an experiment made from pure curiosity scientists from cardiff university the university of manchester and the massachusetts institute of technology scanned the clouds of venus and detected phosphine a gas that could be a sign of life the findings were published in the journal nature astronomy venus is about the size and the same mass as earth its diameter is 12 104 kilometers earth’s is 12 756 kilometers unlike earth and all the other planets in the solar system except uranus venus rotates from east to west and it rotates on its axis very slowly a day on venus lasts 243 earth days venus is also the hottest planet in the solar system a runaway greenhouse gas effect makes surface temperatures hot enough to melt lead with an atmospheric surface pressure 90 times greater than that on earth but high up in its atmosphere there’s a spot that is neither too hot nor too cold for life to make their discovery the scientists used the james clerk mass wall telescope in hawaii they were shocked when they found hints of phosphine and venus’s spectrum the team later confirmed the detection using the more sensitive alma observatory in chile phosphine is a biosignature gas on earth it’s made by microbes that thrive without oxygen other processes that could create phosphine on venus volcanoes lightning sunlight or minerals blown up from the surface would only account for a maximum of one ten thousandth of the amount detected in a recent paper led by astronomer sarah seeger at mit the authors note there is a sweet spot 48 to 60 kilometers up in the clouds above venus they hypothesize that microbes could live there drying up as they fall to the lower atmosphere and then rehydrating as they return to the cloud layer by upward diffusion in a statement jane greaves the lead researcher on the phosphine discovery from cardiff university said this was an experiment made out of pure curiosity i thought we’d just be able to rule out extreme scenarios like the clouds being stuffed full of organisms when we got the first hints of phosphine and venus’s spectrum it was a shock of course this is not definitive proof that life exists on venus in an opinion piece on cnn sarah seeger from mit wrote her takeaway is that it indicates there is something highly unusual going on to produce phosphine either some completely unknown chemistry or possibly some kind of microbial type life scientists had previously thought that pluto started out as a ball of rock and ice the ocean beneath its surface formed as heat from the dwarf planet’s radioactive core melted the ice but some scientists think pluto started out as a hot world here is what you need to know new research suggests pluto started out with a subsurface ocean that has been slowly freezing over time the findings are based on an analysis of pictures of pluto’s surface taken by nasa’s new horizons mission these show extensive ridges and troughs consistent with the planet expanding as its ocean froze pluto is fought to possess a liquid ocean beneath a thin icy surface and a mantle of watery ice according to the paper which was published in the journal nature geoscience the study suggests the heat energy that allowed for a liquid ocean came from rocks colliding with and raining down on pluto as the planet formed heat may also have been generated by radioactive elements in the rocks the research suggests other big kuiper belt objects the largest of which are pluto eric haumea and make make may also have once held liquid oceans on their surfaces why is this important it means that pluto may be more capable of supporting alien life than we had previously thought scientists have found evidence that increases the chances of alien life being found on saturn’s sixth largest moon an icy ball called enceladus nasa scientists used data from the cassini space probe to see what new information they could find about enceladus they went digging through detailed infrared images and say they’ve now found strong evidence of areas of fresh ice in the moon’s northern hemisphere fresh ice drastically increases the odds of finding alien life on any planet this fresh ice is thought to have originated in the moon’s interior and scientists think there must be some kind of mechanism by which the fresh ice could have emerged to cover patches of the moon’s ancient ice surface some theorize that these fresh ice patches in the north formed in much the same way as similar patches formed in the south by being blown through a series of giant cracks in the moon’s surface these giant cracks in the south look like tiger stripes their data were studied a few years ago according to the researchers the tiger stripes are about 130 kilometers long with fracture lines running parallel to one another spaced at 35 kilometers apart lead author doug hemingway at the carnegie institute for science says that the fishers constantly blow out water and ice unlike any other formation known to exist on icy moons according to the research team the tiger stripes and the formation’s strange behavior is caused by the moon’s eccentric orbit around saturn because enceladus distance to saturn fluctuates planetary gravity stretches and flexes the moon this effect generates the heat that keeps enceladus from freezing solid the gravitational force is so powerful that it changes the shape of the moon with the resulting stress creating the first tiger stripe on enceladus as the moon’s surface ocean erupts through the fissure the jets of water then freeze and fall back on the moon the weight of the accumulated ice and snow puts pressure on the nearby ice sheet and breaks the crust on parallel lines those fractures become the moon’s stripes some scientists theorize that the areas of fresh ice in the northern hemisphere were formed in a similar way as the southern fresh ice areas around the tiger stripes however that theory would be hard to prove as the cassini space probe that recorded the data stopped functioning in 2017. for more news animations and 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