Scientists at the University of Cambridge have found that each planet in the solar system is normally subject to a change in its mass in both directions, both with the "pole" and "minus" signs, the Earth really loses up to 10 thousand tons per year annually. There is a decrease in the mass not of the planet itself, but of the surrounding atmosphere, which annually erodes into outer space up to 50 tons.
This was found out not without the help of the European Space Agency, which, since 2000, has been regularly monitoring the Earth's magnetosphere in particular.
Previously, scientists only knew that a lot of space debris and dust falls on the planet, about 160 tons per year, due to which it increases its mass. Physicists have found that the magnetic field above the North and South Poles is much weaker than over the rest of the globe. According to the proposed theory, the centrifugal force of the Earth "throws out" light oxygen ions at an altitude of 100 km, which become heavier in the process of attaching charged molecules, microscopic dust particles suspended in the air, and are exposed to microwave radiation.
It turned out that such "heavy" ions of charged oxygen leave the atmosphere in an annual mass of 50 thousand tons for unknown reasons. Even the deposition of dust from burnt meteors, amounting to 50 tons or more, does not cover the losses of the Earth. Some experts associate the loss of atmospheric mass with the increased activity of the Sun and processes associated with the interaction of the magnetic fields of the two planets. Scientists have found that not only oxygen ions, but also helium, whose losses are up to one and a half tons per year, "fly away". The event seems insignificant, but the reserves of this gas are not so great in the atmosphere, besides, it is very valuable in various industries and laboratories.
Its weathering from the atmosphere is a very undesirable process, although it cannot be prevented. American physicists are very concerned about this fact, since the bulk of the extracted helium is used for medical research, magnetic resonance imaging, for example, where this element acts as a stabilizer for superconducting magnets. Helium is also an indispensable element for the functioning of nuclear reactors, on its basis the production of zirconium is carried out - direct fuel for reactors, and military equipment.
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Therefore, in the middle of the 20th century, the United States reduced the supply of scarce gas to the world market and allowed only 5 national companies to extract it by the method of low-temperature separation. Scientists suggest that changes in mass can occur due to continuous processes and transformations in the earth's core. There is evidence that since the creation of the planet, the core has been continuously cooling down, but this happens very slowly, no more than a hundredth of a percent in one century, and, according to opponents of the idea, it cannot lead to visible weight loss.
The professorship of physicists at the Paris Institute of the Earth affirms the opposite idea of a constant rise in temperature in the core, and its minimal participation in mass fluctuations. In contrast to the Earth, its satellite Moon annually builds up a layer of space debris and dust, giving nothing in return. Including the fault of the deliberate leaving of space probes by people on it. American scientists, having noticed the seismic activity of the satellite, decided to test how strong it can be. To do this, at high speed, 19 probes were already hitting the moon one by one. A similar "crash test" showed that the seismic waves provoked by humans were not particularly strong. In total, more than 100 thousand tons of research probes and devices have fallen on the surface of the satellite in the history of space exploration.
Astronomers have found that not only our planet is losing weight, but also Mercury has lost a lot of weight over the past 6 years. The Messenger probe launched in 2004 reached the surface of the planet closest to the Sun by 2011. The data on its characteristics were compared with new information received from the same apparatus over several years and it turned out that the diameter of the planet is decreasing by 7 kilometers per year. According to calculations, from the moment of its existence, it reduced its mass by half, one of the hypotheses is that a huge meteorite crashed into it at the initial stage of the planet's development. Scientists also noticed similar behavior on Venus.
This planet belongs to the type of young - its age is less than that of the Earth, and it cools a little, but still faster. The first data on the hottest planet in the solar system began to come from the Venera-3 spacecraft launched in 1966 in the USSR. The newest data was obtained in 2011 using the Japanese Akatsuki / Planet-C probe - ISAS Venus Orbiter. Scientists from the University of Hokkaido received unique information about the "super-rotation" of the planet under study.
The speed of the atmosphere at an altitude above 70 kilometers is faster than in layers that are below this mark. Whether the unexplored event is associated with a change in weight, astrophysicists are currently only trying to find out. Astronomers are interested in the decreasing trend in mass for many planets in the solar system. This may be due to the processes taking place on the Sun, according to some scientists, the star gradually cools down, which helps to slow down nuclear processes in many planets, including the Earth.
Alina Alimova