Water on Mars! New Research Points Liquid Purifiers Underneath The Surface
Most researches do agree that there is water on some parts of the red planet but this particular research indicates large quantities of water which may lie underneath the surface of Mars. An underground water pool is also likely to host many microbes surviving in it.
Mars is an intriguing planet especially when it comes to exploring the possibility of hosting life in the past or even the future. Scientists are constantly at work and more researches are being conducted to understand the surface of the red planet. Meanwhile, a group of scientists have found evidence of a huge underground aquifer of liquid water on Mars. This lake kind of formation is not exactly seen but if it exists then there is a strong likelihood of life on Mars.
Mars Express Orbiter, a European spacecraft has been orbiting the planet since the year 2003. The radar instrument of this probe called MARSIS, has detected a feature underneath the surface of Mars, about 12.4 miles wide. The structure matches those like the underwater resources on Earth. The team has concluded there is a lake under on the red planet. The scientists have ruled out all the other possibilities of what this structure could otherwise be. Roberto Orosei, a researcher has said, "I’ve run out of ideas on how to explain this in a way that isn’t water." Tiny Lab to Search for Alien Life on Mars Will Be Launched in July 2020
There have been similar researches detecting the presence of water on the red planet for decades. Most researches do agree that there is water on some parts of the red planet but this particular research indicates large quantities of water which may lie underneath the surface of Mars. An underground water pool is also likely to host many microbes surviving in it, without any outside atmosphere to bother.
To confirm these findings is still a little difficult as there are not enough advanced instruments to look into the deeper surface. There are a lot of questions arising out of this finding whether there would be one or more aquifers and how they could be drilled into to learn more. This aquifer is also not affected by seasonal changes in the planet’s surface temperature. The team is exploring more into understanding if it stays in a liquid state throughout. "The radar measurements don’t give any good indications of thickness, so we don’t know how deep this lake goes. We only know where this water is, but we don’t know anything about the depth really," said another researcher from the team.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 25, 2018 09:19 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).