Other planets like Venus and Earth also have a kind of magnetic tail, but that of Mars is much more twisted . Data from NASA’s Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) probe indicate that this kinky shape of the Martian tail can cause the loss of much of the atmosphere surrounding the red planet . This invisible magnetic tail is twisted by interaction with the solar wind, according to new research that has been based on data collected by NASA’s MAVEN mission.
MAVEN remains in orbit around Mars, collecting data on the process by which the red planet lost much of its atmosphere and water, and went from being a world with the capacity to host life billions of years ago to the cold and inhospitable it is today.
The process that shapes the twisted tail could also cause a part of Mars’ faint atmosphere to escape into space , according to the researchers who conducted the study. “We discovered that the magnetic tail of Mars or magnetocola is unique in the Solar System ,” according to Gina DiBraccio of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “It does not resemble the one found on Venus, which it is a planet without its own magnetic field, nor is it on Earth’s magnetic trail, which is surrounded by its own internally generated magnetic field. It is more of a hybrid between the two. “
DiBraccio presented his findings at the American Astronomical Society’s Division of Planetary Sciences annual meeting in Utah.
According to scientists, the twisted tail of Mars is due to a magnetic reconnection process . The red planet lost a large part of its magnetic field billions of years ago, but some parts of its surface still retain fossil magnetic fields. The NASA team found that this magnetic reconnection process must play an important role in creating the Martian magnetotail because it would cause the tail to twist and twist.
Di Braccio explains that the model they have run “predicted that magnetic reconnection will cause the Martian magnetotail to twist 45 degrees as a function of the direction of the magnetic field carried by the solar wind . When we compare those predictions with the MAVEN data on the directions from the magnetic fields of Mars and the solar wind, we saw that they coincided. “
Mars lost its global magnetic field billions of years ago and now only has remnant magnetic fields, fossils embedded in certain regions of its surface . According to the new study, the magnetotail on Mars is formed when magnetic fields carried by the solar wind join with magnetic fields embedded in the planet’s surface in a process of magnetic reconnection .
What is the solar wind?
The solar wind is an electrically conductive stream of gas that continuously blows from the Sun’s surface into space at a speed of approximately 1.6 million kilometers per hour. These winds carry with them magnetic fields from the Sun.
If the solar wind field is oriented in the opposite direction to a field on the Martian surface, the two fields are joined by magnetic reconnection. The magnetic reconnection process could also push part of Mars’ atmosphere into space . The upper atmosphere of Mars has electrically charged particles (ions). Ions respond to electrical and magnetic forces and flow along magnetic field lines.
Since the Martian magnetotail is formed by joining the magnetic fields of the surface with the fields of the solar wind, ions in the upper atmosphere of Mars are directed into space if they flow down the magnetotail. Just as a stretched rubber band takes on a new shape, magnetic reconnection also releases energy, which could actively propel ions from the Martian atmosphere through the magnet slot into space.
Since Mars has a mosaic of surface magnetic fields , scientists suspected that the magnetotail would be a complex hybrid between that of a planet without a magnetic field and that of a planet with a global magnetic field. MAVEN’s abundant data on the Martian magnetic field allowed the team to confirm this reality for the first time.
MAVEN’s orbit continually changes its orientation relative to the Sun , making it possible to make measurements in all regions around Mars to map the magnetotail and its interaction with the solar wind. Magnetic fields are invisible, but their direction and strength can be measured by a magnetometer on board MAVEN, which the experts used to make the observations.
Now they intend to analyze data from other MAVEN instruments to confirm that the reconnection contributes to the Martian atmospheric loss and to quantify its importance. They will also collect more data from the magnetometer in the coming years to study the various surface magnetic fields and how they affect the tail based on the rotation of Mars. This rotary motion coupled with a constantly changing magnetic field from the solar wind creates an extremely dynamic Martian magnetotail. And is that ” Mars is as complicated as it is interesting, ” according to DiBraccio.
Image: Artistic recreation of the complex magnetic lattice that surrounds Mars. The yellow lines represent lines of magnetic fields carried from the Sun by the solar wind, the white sparks respond to magnetic reconnection activity, and the red lines are reconnected magnetic fields that link the planet’s surface to space through the magnetic tail. de Marte / Anil Rao / Univ. of Colorado / MAVEN / NASA GSFC.
