Comet stripped Mars of the upper layer of the atmosphere – BBC

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A close encounter of comet C / 2013 A1 (Siding Spring) with Mars in October 2014 temporarily caused strong changes in magnetic field and atmosphere of the planet. It is reported by a group of scientists from the command unit of the Martian satellite MAVEN. (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN – «The evolution of the atmosphere and volatiles on Mars»)

The work is published in the journal , in addition to the results of the study can be found on the website NASA .

The researchers processed the data MAVEN satellite, which from September 2014 has been researching the Martian atmosphere. In October 2014 Comet Siding Spring was held at a distance of 140 thousand. Km of the Martian surface, which is almost three times smaller than the average radius of the orbit of the Moon around the Earth. Fearing adverse effects on electronics, the scientists during the rendezvous with the comet had to turn off many of the spacecraft instruments. Some devices, including a magnetometer, continued to collect data directly in the moment when Mars and a comet approached each other at a minimum distance of

«Comet turned Martian magnetic field in the chaos, -. Commented on the results of Jared ESPL participant MAVEN team at the Center Goddard space flight Center. – This convergence blows of the upper layers of the Martian atmosphere, as it usually occurs during powerful solar flares. ” For a few hours the whole Mars entered the comet someone – a cloud of gas and dust surrounding the comet’s nucleus. The inner region of the coma almost reached the planet’s surface, and the magnetic fields of both the celestial bodies a few hours were “entangled” with each other.

In contrast to Earth, Mars is not protected by a strong magnetic field. Nevertheless, the atmosphere of Mars gives some protection. This is because that its upper layers are plasma – ionized atoms substance. The interaction of this plasma with the solar wind, and there is a weak magnetic field, which protects the little Martian atmosphere.

MAVEN spacecraft continues to explore the Martian atmosphere. New data will learn about the climate of the planet in the past, as well as to study the effect of solar flares on the atmosphere

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