The atmosphere of Mars - the chemical composition, weather conditions and climate in the past. NASA proposes to restore the atmosphere of Mars with a magnetic shield Is there oxygen on Mars

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Mars - the atmosphere of the planet: layers of the atmosphere, chemical composition, pressure, density, comparison with the Earth, the amount of methane, an ancient planet, research with a photo.

BUTatmosphere of mars is only 1% of the earth, so there is no protection from solar radiation on the Red Planet, as well as a normal temperature regime. The composition of the atmosphere of Mars is represented by carbon dioxide (95%), nitrogen (3%), argon (1.6%) and small impurities of oxygen, water vapor and other gases. It is also filled with small dust particles, which make the planet appear red.

Researchers believe that earlier the atmospheric layer was dense, but collapsed 4 billion years ago. Without a magnetosphere, the solar wind crashes into the ionosphere and reduces atmospheric density.

This led to a low pressure indicator - 30 Pa. The atmosphere extends for 10.8 km. It contains a lot of methane. Moreover, strong emissions are noticeable in specific areas. There are two locations, but the sources have not yet been discovered.

270 tons of methane are produced per year. This means that we are talking about some kind of active subsurface process. Most likely, this is volcanic activity, comet impacts or serpentinization. The most attractive option is methanogenic microbial life.

Now you know about the presence of the atmosphere of Mars, but, unfortunately, it is set to exterminate the colonists. It prevents liquid water from accumulating, is open to radiation, and is extremely cold. But in the next 30 years, we are still focused on development.

Dissipation of planetary atmospheres

Astrophysicist Valery Shematovich on the evolution of planetary atmospheres, exoplanetary systems and the loss of the Martian atmosphere:

Every planet is different from the rest in a number of ways. People compare other found planets with the one they know well, but not perfectly, - this is the planet Earth. After all, this is logical, life could appear on our planet, which means that if you look for a planet similar to ours, then it will also be possible to find life there. Because of these comparisons, the planets have their own distinctive features. For example, Saturn has beautiful rings, because of which Saturn is called the most beautiful planet in the solar system. Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system and this feature of Jupiter. So what are the features of Mars? This article is about this.

Mars, like many other planets in the solar system, has moons. Mars has two moons, Phobos and Deimos. The satellites got their names from the Greeks. Phobos and Deimos were the sons of Ares (Mars) and were always close to their father, just as these two satellites are always close to Mars. In translation, “Phobos” means “fear”, and “Deimos” means “horror”.

Phobos is a moon whose orbit is very close to the planet. It is the closest satellite to the planet in the entire solar system. The distance from the surface of Mars to Phobos is 9380 kilometers. The satellite revolves around Mars with a frequency of 7 hours 40 minutes. It turns out that Phobos manages to make three and a few revolutions around Mars, while Mars itself makes one revolution around its axis.

Deimos is the smallest moon in the solar system. The dimensions of the satellite are 15x12.4x10.8 km. And the distance from the satellite to the surface of the planet is 23,450 thousand km. The period of revolution of Deimos around Mars is 30 hours and 20 minutes, which is a little more than the time it takes the planet to rotate around its axis. If you are on Mars, then Phobos will rise in the west and set in the east, while making three revolutions per day, and Deimos, on the contrary, will rise in the east and set in the west, while making only one revolution around the planet.

Features of Mars and its Atmosphere

One of the main features of Mars is that it was created. The atmosphere on Mars is very interesting. Now the atmosphere on Mars is very rarefied, it is possible that in the future Mars will completely lose its atmosphere. The features of the atmosphere of Mars are that once upon a time Mars had the same atmosphere and air as on our home planet. But in the course of evolution, the Red Planet lost almost all of its atmosphere. Now the pressure of the atmosphere of the Red Planet is only 1% of the pressure of our planet. Features of the atmosphere of Mars is also that even with three times less gravity of the planet, relative to the Earth, Mars can raise huge dust storms, lifting tons of sand and soil into the air. Dust storms have already spoiled the nerves of our astronomers more than once, since dust storms are very extensive, then observation of Mars from the Earth becomes impossible. Sometimes such storms can even last for months, which greatly spoils the process of studying the planet. But exploration of the planet Mars doesn't stop there. There are robots on the surface of Mars that do not stop the process of exploring the planet.

The atmospheric features of the planet Mars are also in the fact that scientists' guesses about the color of the Martian sky have been refuted. Scientists thought that the sky on Mars should be black, but pictures taken by the space station from the planet disproved this theory. The sky on Mars is not black at all, it is pink, thanks to the particles of sand and dust that are in the air and absorb 40% of the sunlight, thanks to which the effect of the pink sky on Mars is created.

Features of the temperature of Mars

Measurements of the temperature of Mars began relatively long ago. It all started with Lampland's measurements in 1922. Then the measurements indicated that the average temperature on Mars is -28º C. Later, in the 50s and 60s, some knowledge about the temperature regime of the planet was accumulated, which were carried out from the 20s to the 60s. From these measurements, it turns out that during the day at the equator of the planet the temperature can reach +27º C, but by evening it will drop to zero, and by morning it becomes -50º C. The temperature at the poles varies from +10º C, during the polar day, and to very low temperatures during the polar night.

Features of the relief of Mars

The surface of Mars, like other planets that do not have an atmosphere, is scarred by various craters from falling space objects. Craters are small in size (5 km in diameter) and large (from 50 to 70 km in diameter). Due to the absence of its atmosphere, Mars was subject to meteor showers. But the surface of the planet contains not only craters. Previously, people believed that there was never water on Mars, but observations of the surface of the planet tell a different story. The surface of Mars has channels and even small depressions, reminiscent of water deposits. This suggests that there was water on Mars, but for many reasons it disappeared. Now it is difficult to say what needs to be done so that the water on Mars reappears and we could observe the resurrection of the planet.

There are also volcanoes on the Red Planet. The most famous volcano is Mount Olympus. This volcano is known to all those who are interested in Mars. This volcano is the largest hill not only on Mars, but also in the solar system, this is another feature of this planet. If you stand at the foot of Mount Olympus, then it will be impossible to see the edge of this volcano. This volcano is so large that its edges go beyond the horizon and it seems that Olympus is endless.

Features of the magnetic field of Mars

This is perhaps the last interesting feature of this planet. The magnetic field is the protector of the planet, which repels all electrical charges moving towards the planet and repels them from their original trajectory. The magnetic field is completely dependent on the core of the planet. The core on Mars is almost stationary and therefore the planet's magnetic field is very weak. The action of the Magnetic Field is very interesting, it is not global, as on our planet, but has zones in which it is more active, and in other zones it may not be at all.

Thus, the planet that seems so ordinary to us has a whole set of its own features, some of which are leading in our solar system. Mars is not as simple a planet as you might think at first glance.

Since Mars is farther from the Sun than the Earth, it can occupy a position opposite the Sun in the sky, then it is visible all night. This position of the planet is called confrontation. On Mars, it repeats every two years and two months. Since the orbit of Mars is more extended than the Earth's, during oppositions the distances between Mars and the Earth can be different. Once every 15 or 17 years, the Great Confrontation occurs, when the distance between the Earth and Mars is minimal and is 55 million km.

Channels on Mars

A photograph of Mars taken from the Hubble Space Telescope clearly shows the characteristic features of the planet. Against the red background of the Martian deserts, blue-green seas and a bright white polar cap are clearly visible. Famous channels not visible in the picture. At this magnification, they are really not visible. After large-scale images of Mars were obtained, the mystery of the Martian channels was finally resolved: the channels are an optical illusion.

Of great interest was the question of the possibility of existence life on mars. Conducted in 1976 on the American AMS "Viking" studies gave, apparently, the final negative result. No traces of life have been found on Mars.

However, there is still a lively discussion about this. Both sides, both supporters and opponents of life on Mars, present arguments that their opponents cannot refute. There is simply not enough experimental data to resolve this issue. It remains only to wait when the ongoing and planned flights to Mars will provide material confirming or refuting the existence of life on Mars in our time or in the distant past. material from the site

Mars has two small satellite- Phobos (Fig. 51) and Deimos (Fig. 52). Their dimensions are 18×22 and 10×16 km, respectively. Phobos is located from the surface of the planet at a distance of only 6000 km and revolves around it in about 7 hours, which is 3 times less than a Martian day. Deimos is located at a distance of 20,000 km.

A number of mysteries are connected with the satellites. So, their origin is unclear. Most scientists believe that these are relatively recently captured asteroids. It is hard to imagine how Phobos survived after a meteorite impact, which left a crater 8 km in diameter on it. It is not clear why Phobos is the blackest body known to us. Its reflectivity is 3 times less than that of soot. Unfortunately, several spacecraft flights to Phobos ended in failure. The final solution of many issues of both Phobos and Mars is postponed until the expedition to Mars, planned for the 30s of the 21st century.

When we talk about climate change, we shake our heads sadly - oh, how much our planet has changed lately, how polluted its atmosphere is ... However, if we want to see a real example of how fatal climate change can be, then we will not have to look for it on Earth and beyond. Mars is very suitable for this role.

What was here millions of years ago cannot be compared with the picture of today. Today, Mars is a bitter cold on the surface, low pressure, a very thin and rarefied atmosphere. Before us lies only a pale shadow of the former world, the surface temperature of which was not much lower than the current temperature on earth, and full-flowing rivers rushed through the plains and gorges. Maybe there was even organic life here, who knows? All this is in the past.

What is the atmosphere of Mars made of?

Now it even rejects the possibility of living beings living here. Martian weather is shaped by many factors, including the cyclic growth and melting of ice caps, atmospheric water vapor, and seasonal dust storms. Sometimes, giant dust storms cover the entire planet at once and can last for months, turning the sky a deep red.

The atmosphere of Mars is about 100 times thinner than that of Earth, and 95 percent carbon dioxide. The exact composition of the Martian atmosphere is:

• Carbon dioxide: 95.32%
• Nitrogen: 2.7%
• Argon: 1.6%
• Oxygen: 0.13%
• Carbon monoxide: 0.08%

In addition, in small quantities there are: water, nitrogen oxides, neon, heavy hydrogen, krypton and xenon.

How did the atmosphere of Mars come about? Just like on Earth - as a result of degassing - the release of gases from the bowels of the planet. However, the force of gravity on Mars is much less than on Earth, so most of the gases escape into the world space, and only a small part of them is able to stay around the planet.

What happened to the atmosphere of Mars in the past?

At the dawn of the existence of the solar system, that is, 4.5-3.5 billion years ago, Mars had a sufficiently dense atmosphere, due to which water could be in liquid form on its surface. Orbital photographs show the contours of vast river valleys, the outlines of an ancient ocean on the surface of the red planet, and rovers have repeatedly found samples of chemical compounds that prove to us that the eyes do not lie - all these details of the relief familiar to the human eye on Mars were formed in the same conditions just like on Earth.

There was no doubt that there was water on Mars, there are no questions here. The only question is, why did she end up disappearing?

The main theory on this matter looks something like this: once upon a time, Mars had an effectively reflecting solar radiation, but over time it began to weaken and about 3.5 billion years ago it practically disappeared (separate local centers of the magnetic field, moreover, according to power quite comparable with the earth, there is on Mars even now). Since the size of Mars is almost half that of Earth, its gravity is much weaker than that of our planet. The combination of these two factors (the loss of the magnetic field and weak gravity) led to this. that the solar wind began to "knock out" light molecules from the atmosphere of the planet, gradually thinning it. So, in a matter of millions of years, Mars turned into the role of an apple, from which the skin was carefully cut with a knife.

The weakened magnetic field could no longer effectively “extinguish” cosmic radiation, and the sun turned from a source of life into a killer for Mars. And the thinned atmosphere could no longer retain heat, so the temperature on the planet's surface dropped to an average value of -60 degrees Celsius, only on a summer day at the equator, reaching +20 degrees.

Although the atmosphere of Mars is now about 100 times thinner than Earth's, it is still thick enough for the weather formation processes to actively occur on the red planet, precipitation fell, clouds and winds arose.

"Dust Devil" - a small tornado on the surface of Mars, photographed from the orbit of the planet

Radiation, dust storms and other features of Mars

Radiation near the surface of the planet is dangerous, however, according to NASA data obtained from the collection of analyzes by the Curiosity rover, it follows that even for a 500-day period of stay on Mars (+360 days on the way), astronauts (including protective equipment) would receive " dose" of radiation equal to 1 sievert (~100 roentgens). This dose is dangerous, but certainly will not kill an adult "on the spot." It is believed that 1 sievert of radiation received increases the astronaut's risk of developing cancer by 5%. According to scientists, for the sake of science, you can go to great hardships, especially the first step to Mars, even if it promises health problems in the future ... This is definitely a step into immortality!

On the surface of Mars, seasonally, hundreds of dust devils (tornadoes) rage, raising dust from iron oxides (rust, in a simple way) into the atmosphere, which abundantly covers the Martian wastelands. Martian dust is very fine, which, combined with low gravity, leads to the fact that a significant amount of it is always present in the atmosphere, reaching especially high concentrations in autumn and winter in the northern hemispheres, and in spring and summer in the southern hemispheres of the planet.

Dust storms on Mars- the largest in the solar system, capable of covering the entire surface of the planet and sometimes going for months. The main dust storm seasons on Mars are spring and summer.

The mechanism of such powerful weather phenomena is not fully understood, but with a high degree of probability is explained by the following theory: when a large number of dust particles rise into the atmosphere, this leads to its sharp heating to a great height. Warm masses of gases rush towards the cold regions of the planet, generating wind. Martian dust, as already noted, is very light, so a strong wind raises even more dust, which in turn heats the atmosphere even more and generates even stronger winds, which in turn raise even more dust ... and so on!

There is no rain on Mars, and where can they come from in the cold at -60 degrees? But sometimes it snows. True, such snow consists not of water, but of carbon dioxide crystals, and its properties are more like fog than snow (the “snowflakes” are too small), but be sure that this is real snow! Just with local specifics.

In general, “snow” goes almost throughout the entire territory of Mars, and this process is cyclical - at night carbon dioxide freezes and turns into crystals, falling to the surface, and during the day it thaws and returns to the atmosphere again. However, at the northern and southern poles of the planet, in winter, frost reigns down to -125 degrees, therefore, having once fallen out in the form of crystals, the gas no longer evaporates, and lies in a layer until spring. Considering the size of the snow caps on Mars, is it necessary to say that in winter the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere drops by tens of percent? The atmosphere becomes even more rarefied, and as a result retains even less heat ... Mars is plunging into winter.

Mars, the fourth planet farthest from the Sun, has been the object of close attention of world science for a long time. This planet is very similar to the Earth with one, small, but fateful exception - the atmosphere of Mars is no more than one percent of the volume of the earth's atmosphere. The gas envelope of any planet is the determining factor that shapes its appearance and conditions on the surface. It is known that all the solid worlds of the solar system were formed under approximately the same conditions at a distance of 240 million kilometers from the Sun. If the conditions for the formation of the Earth and Mars were almost the same, then why are these planets so different now?

It's all about the size - Mars, formed from the same material as the Earth, once had a liquid and hot metal core, like our planet. Proof - many extinct volcanoes on But the "red planet" is much smaller than the Earth. Which means it cools down faster. When the liquid core finally cooled down and solidified, the process of convection ended, and with it the magnetic shield of the planet, the magnetosphere, also disappeared. As a result, the planet remained defenseless against the destructive energy of the Sun, and the atmosphere of Mars was almost completely blown away by the solar wind (a giant stream of radioactive ionized particles). The "Red Planet" has turned into a lifeless, dull desert...

Now the atmosphere on Mars is a thin rarefied gas shell, unable to resist the penetration of the deadly one that burns the surface of the planet. The thermal relaxation of Mars is several orders of magnitude smaller than that of Venus, for example, whose atmosphere is much denser. The atmosphere of Mars, which has a too low heat capacity, forms more pronounced daily average wind speed indicators.

The composition of the atmosphere of Mars is characterized by a very high content (95%). The atmosphere also contains nitrogen (about 2.7%), argon (about 1.6%) and a small amount of oxygen (no more than 0.13%). The atmospheric pressure of Mars is 160 times higher than that at the surface of the planet. Unlike the Earth's atmosphere, the gaseous envelope here is of a pronounced changeable character, due to the fact that the planet's polar caps, containing a huge amount of carbon dioxide, melt and freeze during one annual cycle.

According to data received from the Mars Express research spacecraft, the atmosphere of Mars contains a certain amount of methane. The peculiarity of this gas is its rapid decomposition. This means that somewhere on the planet there must be a source of replenishment of methane. There can be only two options here - either geological activity, traces of which have not yet been discovered, or the vital activity of microorganisms, which can turn our idea of ​​the presence of centers of life in the solar system.

A characteristic effect of the Martian atmosphere is dust storms that can rage for months. This dense air blanket of the planet consists mainly of carbon dioxide with minor inclusions of oxygen and water vapor. Such a lingering effect is due to the extremely low gravity of Mars, which allows even a super-rarefied atmosphere to lift billions of tons of dust from the surface and hold for a long time.