Scientists have found a network of salty liquid water lakes on Mars

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.

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.

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