New research proves that debris from Mars would not have enough energy to reach our planet
Russian scientists have provided evidence that the rare meteorites, which for many years were called Martian, did not come to Earth from the Red Planet. The only reason for attributing meteorites to Mars was the similar isotopic composition of the gas that was found in these meteorites - it is identical to the Martian one. However, the results of new studies have forced chemists and astronomers to refute the previously obtained evidence.
The results of the study were reported to Izvestia by its author - Alexander Bagrov, a leading researcher at the Institute of Astronomy of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Doctor of Physics and Mathematics.
- Earlier, Martian meteorites were studied by geologists, geochemists, paleontologists, other scientists, but not by experts in celestial mechanics, - the scientist says. - And only astronomical knowledge can answer a number of simple questions. The first thing that "touched me" was the value of the second cosmic velocity for Mars. It is equal to 5 km / s. If the speed of the rock's departure from Mars is less, it will simply fall back. Is it possible to "knock out" a stone with a strong blow at such a speed? Only if you come into conflict with the laws of physics.
According to certain calculations, in order to create conditions for the ejection of material from an impact crater at the required speed, at least a 400-meter body moving faster than 10 km / s must collide with Mars. The ejection of stones after the impact will be in all directions, and for the probability of at least one of them falling to the Earth, a single collision is not enough. A minimum of a thousand such strikes are required, and then only 0.1% of the fragments thrown in the right direction will pick up sufficient speed.
“So, in order for at least one meteorite to reach the Earth, Mars had to experience about a billion impacts of the required force,” the scientist explains. - In the entire solar system, there are not so many asteroids capable of becoming strikers. And on Mars in its entire history, there could not be more than 60,000, even with the most optimistic estimates. Obviously not enough even to deliver one meteorite! Can we seriously talk about a hundred?
The proof of the Martian origin of the investigated meteorites, based on the similarity of the isotopic composition of the gas, is refuted by the fact that their age is billions of years, and the composition of gas bubbles in them is the same as in the atmosphere of today's Mars. According to scientists, the atmosphere of the Red Planet has changed dramatically over the years.
However, in this case, the scope of the unknown for astronomers only expands. Now we have to look for an answer to a new question: where did these meteorites come from and how to explain the traces of the Martian atmosphere existing in them?
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- For two centuries, disputes about a hypothetical planet that could be between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter have not ceased, - says Alexander Bagrov. - Personally, I have no doubt that it is the fragments of a certain destroyed planet that still fill outer space and sometimes fall into the Earth. In fact, the composition of these meteorites could be explained by the properties of some celestial body that was destroyed long ago. However, there is still a lot to explore in this area.
Of the 65 thousand meteorites ever found on Earth, only 69 scientists classify as Martian. The oldest of these 69 meteorites is 4.1 billion years old, when the solar system was very young. The "youngest" meteorite preferably left Mars 300-500 million years ago.
- Interest in Martian meteorites is quite objective, - says the director of the observatory of Ryazan State University named after S. A. Yesenin, Candidate of Technical Sciences Andrey Murtazov. - Studying the origin of such objects, comparing their composition with the composition of terrestrial minerals can shed light on the evolution of the solar system, respectively, and the Earth. So far, no concrete and satisfactory proof of whether these are Martian meteorites has been provided. Their composition and age are now being clarified. In the future, the study of the mineralogical composition of the surface of Mars. Similar work is being carried out in a number of laboratories around the world, including in Russia.