How could there possibly be ice? Well, these radio signals sent from a telescope in Puerto Rico back in 1991 reflected off of certain patches of Mercury, scientists figured there could be ice. A recent spacecraft called MESSENGER visited Mercury and confirmed these bright radar patches were indeed very indicative of ice. Because of the tilt of Mercury's axis, certain parts of Mercury never see the sun. Presumably these are the places where ice could have a chance of forming.
Using a science fictiony sounding thing called neutron spectroscopy, NASA determined that this hydrogen rich layer, just beneath the surface of the areas indicated by the radar bright-spots, has a very similar level of hydrogen concentration as ice, confirming their long held suspicions.
It is fascinating that the planet closest to the sun has these patches of ice water. Water is the molecule to be when it comes to life, and finding it in places as foreign and desolate as Mercury shows that we are getting better at finding water's hiding places.
5 comments:
While they may not have a great impact upon our daily lives, I always find these discoveries to be fascinating.
It is also worth noting that Mercury has no atmosphere. This is why the dark side of the planet can remain cold enough for water to exist as a solid.
The article Wyatt linked also mentions the existence of dark spots containing organic material on Mercury. This is likely due to an organic molecule-rich asteroid colliding with Mercury. This is especially interesting because there are some theories that link the origin of organic materials on Earth (and the precursor to life on Earth) to similar asteroids that were created at the birth of our solar system. While Mercury could never support life without an atmosphere, it is nonetheless important that these parallels between our neighbor planets are being discovered.
Yay water! And congratulations Nasa for showing you don't needs loads of government money in order to make scientific discoveries. Although I doubt Nasa will have the time to delve into further study of possible life on Mercury, it's still exciting to consider extraterrestrial life on one of our close planetary neighbors.
I think it's fascinating how much water we're finding in our near neighbors, from Mercury to the moon, (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/27/science/space/27moon.html) it's encouraging to see how even in seemingly inhospitable places, water, the building block for life, can be found. We may not be running into spacefaring races from across the stars anytime soon, but the possibility of simple organisms within or near our solar system seems increasingly likely.
Well, another point goes to NASA. Congratulations on discovering ice, and by extension water, on Mercury. It seems surprising that ice can exist on the planet when it is in such close proximity to the Sun. However, as Andrew said, there is no atmosphere on Mercury. Therefore, ice has the potential to form in certain areas not bombarded by hot intense rays from the Sun.
It is interesting to theorize on where the ice came from and how it formed in Mercury's distant past. Two possible explanations for why ice exists on Mercury are via the outgassing of water from inside Mercury or from depositions via comet impacts. Either way, this will definitely help scientists feel more confident about discovering other forms on life outside of Earth on other planets. However, I wouldn't hold my breath for life on Mercury, it seems too desolate a place, don't you think?
Interestingly, some scientists believe they can find amino acids and organic substances on the planet with closer viewing of Mercury. Again, I doubt there is actual life on Mercury, but there is always the possibility however small. It will be difficult to get accurate information about this topic though. The Hubble Space Telescope is unable to properly look at Mercury because it is too dangerous when pointed too closely at the Sun, risking the viewer's eyesight.
In conclusion, this is an excellent little victory by NASA and hopefully they will continue to find more such discoveries in the future. It is scientific eye-openers such as this that lay the foundation for future technological development in our society. For example, we needed to test the joystick on the lunar rover first before it was properly applied to video games and we first used the CAT scanner on space components. As Stephen Hawking once said: "I don't think the human race will survive the next thousand years, unless we spread into space. There are too many accidents that can befall life on a single planet. But I'm an optimist. We will reach out to the stars."
I think that NASA is really showing the value of what they do. Like others have said, I think this is a really exciting discovery. There is something to be said for such huge discoveries being made. I believe that things like this should get more press.
I think that the more water we find on other planets the more we should recognize the potential for life in other solar systems and galaxies. There is so much potential for "aliens" even other life forms in very, very basic forms would be such a huge milestone in science.
Post a Comment