New layer of hot liquid discovered deep inside Mars
- Published
An artist's impression of the newly discovered layer of molten silicates surrounding Mars' core. On the left, is Nasa's InSight probe, and on the right is the point at which a huge meteor struck the planet in .
Scientists have discovered a liquid molten layer wrapped around Mars' core.
This new information is exciting scientists as the internal structure of a planet can be key to unlocking how it was formed.
In the case of Mars, it had been previously thought the dense core, which is made up of iron, nickel and sulphur, was surrounded by a rocky mantle.
But new research has shown there is another layer of a liquid molten silicates - rock-forming minerals - sitting around the inner-most part of the planet.
The new data was provided by Nasa's InSight Rover which launched in 2018.
A Martian selfie! The last picture taken of the InSight Rover before it shut down in 2022.
The mission officially ended in December 2022.
However, a team of international scientists are still analysing the InSight observations and have been focussing on powerful seismic activity, and the follow-up vibrations, that were caused when a meteor struck the planet in September 2021.
The information they received using their high-tech measuring equipment suggests that the Mars' core is smaller than previously thought and that this newly discovered "molten blanket" traps heat into the centre of the planet.
University of Maryland's Vedran Lekic is the co-author of the study and is a professor of geology, which is the study of rocks and formation of the Earth.
WATCH: What will the Nasa InSight probe be doing on Mars?
"This new discovery of a molten layer (on Mars) is just one example of how we continue to learn new things from the completed InSight mission.
He said the findings "can help tell us whether magnetic fields can be generated and maintained, how planets cool over time, and also how the dynamics of their interiors change over time."
"We hope that the information we've gathered on planetary evolution using seismic data is paving the way for future missions to celestial bodies like the moon and other planets like Venus."
The mission's findings also suggest that it is unlikely there have ever been or will ever be "Martians".
View of the InSight's seismometer - the device that measures seismic activity on the Martian surface.
Essentially, the molten layer protecting the core does another job - it means the planet is unable to create a magnetic field around itself.
Without a magnetic field, a planet such as Mars would be extremely vulnerable to harsh solar winds and lose all the water on its surface, making it incapable of sustaining life.
