Mars’ gas ring disappeared around the same time as its magnetic field. A violent event would lead to the disappearance of almost all life on Earth.
Mars is also known as the red planet. Colourbox
On Mars, about 4 billion years ago, when looking at the sky, you could see very special aurora lights, if any creature was observing them.
The magnetic field of Mars has also once been very similar to the one on Earth – i.e. bipolar. However, the magnetic field faded 4 billion years ago, which led to the fact that the aurora borealis could be seen very peculiarly and around the planet.
– The aurora borealis has been observed on Mars even today in connection with the local magnetic fields of the Martian crust, PhD researcher at the University of Helsinki Mark Alho tells.
The northern lights are created when solar particles raining along the magnetic field collide with the atmosphere. The northern lights are especially well known in Finland.
– The Earth’s magnetic field sometimes changes its polarity, over a period of hundreds of thousands of years. In this case, even on Earth, the northern lights can be seen somewhere else, where you are used to seeing them.
The magnetic field collapses
The magnetic field is generated by the rotation of the planet’s molten core. It protects the planet from solar particles.
– The core of the planet acts as a kind of dynamo. In the case of Mars, the Dynamo of the molten core faded to nothing about 4 billion years ago, Alho states.
NASA’s Insight probe has obtained a lot of information about the core of Mars. This is the last image of the sonar. NASA
The heat flowing from the planet’s core not only enables the dynamo but also the movement of the continental plates, which on Earth can cause earthquakes and the movement of magma under the earth’s crust, among other things. This warms the planet and releases gases from the earth’s crust into the atmosphere.
Tähdet ja Avaruus magazine wrote in 2012, US scientists suspected that Mars also had continental plate movement. However, the general perception is that there are no continental plates anywhere else but on Earth. The movement of continental plates is also called plate tectonics.
– Mars is at the primitive level of plate tectonics. It gives us a view of what the early Earth may have looked like and how plate tectonics began, University of California researcher An Yin told in 2012.
Olympus Mons on Mars is the largest volcano in the solar system, but it is extinct. ESA/DLR/FU Berlin/J. Cowart, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO
The atmosphere disappears
Mars also currently has a very thin atmosphere and a weak magnetic field in places. However, the atmosphere was much stronger about 4 billion years ago.
As the magnetic field of Mars collapsed, the planet’s atmosphere also disappeared at the same time. According to Japanese researchers the collapse of the magnetic field would have allowed gases to leak into space, but there is no consensus on this.
Venus has a thick atmosphere of gas, but no magnetic field like Earth. NASA/JPL-Caltech
– On Venus, the situation is the other way around. There is a very thick gas ring, but no Earth-like magnetic field at all, says Alho.
The pressure created by the atmosphere and the greenhouse effect enable, among other things, water on Earth to remain liquid, which is an absolute prerequisite for the existence of life on our planet. Without the greenhouse effect, the Earth’s average temperature would be minus.
Evidence of compounds suggestive of life has also been found on Mars. Science journal Nature last month, a study was published that found organic compounds on the planet from an ancient lake located in the Jezero crater.
However, scientists have not managed to find any waterproof proof of the actual existence of life on the red planet, even though the compounds found remotely suggest this.
– Organic compounds can also exist without life. From the point of view of searching for signs of life, it is very nice that these can be found.
Man to Mars
Today, Mars has very harsh conditions and large deserts cover the planet. The temperature of the planet is at its lowest even -140 degrees Celsius. Despite this, several space agencies aim to send humans to Mars as well.
Surviving on the planet would require, among other things, mining the frozen water on Mars, and refining it into hydrogen fuel and breathable oxygen.
– Colonizing Mars would require a lot of work and research. Not to mention earth-like ideas. Manned flight in itself is not a distant dream, but astronauts are at a pretty big risk of getting cancer from radiation, says Alho.
An artist’s vision of what a Mars expedition could look like. Artur Maltsau / Alamy Stock Photo
In addition to curiosity and research, one of the reasons why humans are being sent to Mars is protect our species from extinction spreading to another planet.
According to Alho, the same kind of atmospheric loss that has happened on Mars is not going to happen to Earth right away.
– The most likely event is the Sun’s activity changing as the star ages.
NASA and the Japanese Toho University according to researchers Earth’s oxygen-rich atmosphere will exist for another billion years, after which the increased heat of the Sun will make the existence of life on our planet very difficult – if not impossible.
While waiting for the sun to heat up, humanity’s biggest threat is man himself and the choices we make. Our planet Earth is currently the only planet that supports life as we know it.