Context
NASA’s MAVEN orbiter captures purple auroras on Mars’ nightside
About MAVEN Orbiter:
- Launched by NASA in 2013
- To explore Mars’ upper atmosphere, ionosphere, and interactions with the sun and solar wind.
- Objectives
- Gain insights into the history of Mars’ atmosphere and climate, liquid water, and planetary habitability.
- Study the nature of Mars’ upper atmosphere and the impact of solar activity on atmospheric loss.
- Investigate the role of gas escape in Mars’ atmospheric changes over time.
- Key Findings
- Showed that atmospheric loss to space has significantly driven Mars’ climate change.
- Insufficient CO2 remains on Mars to support terraforming efforts aimed at warming the planet to make it habitable for humans.
About Mars:
- Known as the Red Planet.
- 4th planet from the Sun.
- 2nd smallest planet in the Solar System.
- About half the size of Earth.
- Completes one rotation every 24.6 hours, similar to Earth’s 23.9 hours.
- Axis of rotation tilted at 25 degrees, close to Earth’s 23.4 degrees.
- Has distinct seasons like Earth, but they last longer.
- Martian days are called sols—short for ‘solar day’.
- Appears reddish due to oxidation or rusting of iron in rocks and dust.
- Home to Olympus Mons, the largest volcano in the solar system.
- Has 2 small moons – Phobos and Deimos.
Source: NASA
Previous Year Question
Recently, Scientists observed the merger of giant blackholes’ billions of light-years away from the Earth. What is the significance of this observation?
[UPSC Civil Services Exam – 2019 Prelims]
(a) ‘Higgs boson particles’ were detected.
(b) ‘Gravitational waves’ were detected.
(c) Possibility of inter-galactic space travel through ‘wormhole’ was confirmed.
(d) It enabled the scientists to understand ‘singularity’.
Answer: (b)
