Indian Researchers Discover Solitary Waves for the First Time in the Magnetosphere of Mars

 By TWC INDIAN EDIT TEAM

January 17, 2023

                               Since our first trip into space, we have been trying to solve the riddle of our neighbouring planet, Mars. The likelihood of previous life on the red planet and its ability to support people in the future are both compelling concerns humanity has sought to address, which is why new information from Mars constantly captures our full attention.

In their quest to solve Mars' mysteries, Indian researchers have found something special. In the Martian magnetosphere, which is the area around a planet that is governed by its magnetic field, they have discovered the first indication of the existence of solitary waves or discrete electric field fluctuations.

Unveiling the undercover solitary waves

The velocity of the molten iron in Earth's core creates a magnetosphere, which surrounds the planet and gives it its enormous magnetic field. Our home planet is shielded from the solar winds that the Sun coughs at us by the magnetosphere that surrounds it.

However, unlike Earth, Mars lacks a strong intrinsic magnetic field, making it possible for the fast solar wind to interact with the Martian atmosphere directly.

This interaction shows that regular occurrences of single waves on Mars are still conceivable even in the presence of a feeble magnetosphere. But up until today, their presence has never been discovered, despite several expeditions to Mars.

The first solitary waves ever recorded on Mars have been correctly identified and published by researchers from the Indian Institute of Geomagnetism (IIG). They arrived at this conclusion by analysing over 450 solitary wave pulses recorded by NASA's Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft's Langmuir Probe and Waves instrument.

Decoding the data

At a height of 1000-3500 km above Mars' surface, their study found significant electric field changes that lasted for between 0.2 and 1.7 milliseconds and were most prominent at dawn or between afternoon and night.

The researchers discovered that even the size of these structures in terms of space is quite small using computer simulations of Mars' thin magnetosphere (about 30 to 330 metres).

To pinpoint the precise reason why these waves predominate at a specific time of day, more research is required.

In fact, because of the significance that these waves play in particle energization, plasma loss, and transport through wave-particle interactions, this becomes much more important.

In an effort to determine if these waves have any bearing on the loss of atmospheric ions on Mars, the study team is now researching their function in particle dynamics of the Martian magnetosphere.

Researchers may learn more about the behaviour of the Martian magnetic field and that of other planets if they had a greater understanding of this phenomena.

Under the terms of a Creative Commons licence, this article has been taken from THE TIMES OF INDIA. Go here to read the original article.