Mars wasn’t always a cold and barren world ruled by raging dust storms covering the entire planet. Instead, it was warm, had lakes of liquid water, and was possibly habitable for a short period in its history. This dramatic transition of the Red Planet is generally attributed to the loss of its magnetic field. A planet’s magnetic field is a fundamental ingredient that decides the course of events there. It’s an entity that can cause the difference between life and death.
The Earth’s magnetosphere wraps Earth like a protective blanket. As the energetic solar wind strikes the magnetosphere, the magnetosphere forces it to flow around the planet instead of reaching the atmosphere or the surface, preventing the solar wind from stripping away Earth’s atmosphere. Without it, Earth would be dry, dead, and barren, just like Mars. But if Mars once had a strong magnetic field, what went wrong with it? How did a warm planet become a cold, dry, and barren world? And most importantly, is this going to be the Earth’s ultimate fate?
The eleventh episode of the Sunday Discovery Series answers these questions.
All Episodes Of The Series: https://bit.ly/369kG4p
Basics of Astrophysics series: https://bit.ly/3xII54M
REFERENCES:
Research Paper: https://go.nature.com/3O6KpLB
Cerberus Fossae Quakes: https://go.nature.com/3ObzP64
InSight lander: https://go.nasa.gov/2rbLWaW
Created By: Rishabh Nakra
Written By: Simran Buttar
Narrated By: Jeffrey Smith
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