Mars has a heavy heart after all.
The new view, described in two studies in the Oct. 26 Nature, shows the planet is made of materials common in the solar system at the time Mars formed. A lighter core would have required a mix of elements that wouldn’t have matched the proportions in the dust and debris that eventually became the solar system.
The researchers deduced the structure of Mars’ interior by studying seismic waves detected with NASA’s InSight lander (SN: 2/24/20). It measured Marsquakes and reverberations from meteorite impacts on the planet for a little over four years.
Waves reflecting from the molten rock layer were initially interpreted as bouncing from the outer edge of a core with a radius of about 1,800 kilometers and a density of 6,200 kilograms per cubic meter. The new research added data from seismic waves that dip into that molten layer to reveal the planet’s true heart.
2023-10-27 06:00:00
Link from www.sciencenews.org