Natalie Kister November 8, 2015
Current Event 7 Ippolito, C Even
Current Event 7 Ippolito, C Even
Mars’ Atmosphere Stripped by Solar Winds, NASA Says
In this article, the author Kenneth Chang, explores the issue of the thinning atmosphere on the planet Mars. “Mars’ Atmosphere Stripped by Solar Winds, NASA Says” focuses on NASA’s specialty group, Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution mission, Maven for short, and their studies that hope to reveal why the atmosphere is deteriorating quicker than any other atmosphere in our solar system. At the beginning of our Solar System, Mars was believed to have had just as thick, if not thicker, an atmosphere as Earth. However, over these 4.5 billion years, it has leaked into space. Scientists were confused at first as to how this could happen-even over that long a period, the small leak would not cause that large of a deficit. The answer was in the solar storms that hit Mars. After a major solar storm occurs, particles from the sun strip away large portions of the atmosphere. Bruce M Jakosky, a scientist at University of Colorado, says that, “What this tells us is loss through space has been an important issue.” Mars had the possibility of being a warm and habitable planet, at one time even having a huge ocean at the northern end. The Maven spacecraft was sent up to analyze the effects of the solar winds on the planet and its atmosphere. It was found that air is released in two ways--electrons are knocked off an atom and this charged atom is accelerated away by the electric and magnetic fields of the solar wind. Maven’s instruments have also captured some ultraviolet auras glowing on Mars. Unlike Earth, Mars does not have magnetic poles so auras occur over large portions of the planet. Nick Schneider, planetary scientist from the University of Colorado, commented, “Mars, without a global magnetic field, should have auroras everywhere, certainly when solar conditions are right. We sort of did this dope slap, saying, “Well, of course, what’s going to prevent those particles from the sun from slamming into Mars’ atmosphere anywhere and maybe everywhere?”
This article is relevant to society because it is important for us to understand how the rest of our universe works. By looking to other planets, and studying them, we may be able to apply this new found knowledge to our homes and planet. The studies conducted on Mars may give us new information about the sun, solar flares, or particles in space that could be vital to Earth. By studying these topics we are expanding our knowledge. The planet Mars is often looked at as a backup if anything were to happen to Earth--it is necessary for us to understand everything possible about this planet if we are to ever hope to someday visit it.
This article was well written and had good, valid information. However, I think that it could have presented it in a more logical order. The quotes from the scientists were interesting to read and I thought that those were well placed, as they broke up the text and kept the flow nice and smooth. I found this article on the New York Times website, so it is from a reputable source. There were no grammatical errors and the video that accompanied it was well made and interesting to watch.
Chang, Kenneth. "Mars’ Atmosphere Stripped by Solar Winds, NASA Says."The New York Times.
The New York Times, 05 Nov. 2015. Web. 09 Nov. 2015.
by-solar-storms-nasa-says.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fscience&action=click&contentCollection=science®ion=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=sectionfront&_r=1>.
The New York Times, 05 Nov. 2015. Web. 09 Nov. 2015.
This article discussed how Mars was possibly once a warm habitable planet and over time it has been losing its once thick atmosphere. Natalie did a good job in talking about how learning how Mars lost its atmosphere would be beneficial to us. She talked about how it is important for us to know as much about Mars as possible if we want to visit it in the future. Natalie did a good job in explaining why Mars would have an aurora effect on the whole planet and not just at the poles like Earth because Mars doesn’t have magnetic poles, the whole planet it magnetized. I hadn’t previously known that Mars’ atmosphere was deteriorating faster than any other planet in our solar system and I thought that was interesting because if I could happen to Mars I wonder if the same thing could happen to Earth but at a slower rate.
ReplyDeleteOne thing that could have been improved was the explanation of how Mars lost its atmosphere. I thought that it was a bit confusing and did not fully understand how the atmosphere of Mars has been leaking. I would have also liked to know how scientist were able to figure out how Mars lost its atmosphere. I know that the rovers helped them, but I still don’t know exactly how they were able to narrow the possibilities down.
I chose this article because people are always talking about how if Earth suddenly becomes uninhabitable Mars would be our best bet to live on. Since Mars is the most similar planet to Earth I wonder if solar winds could also strip away our atmosphere or if the having magnetic poles gives us slight protection to this instead of having magnetic fields everywhere. The findings in this article will be beneficial in not just learning about Mars, but learning about our planet as well.
I thought that report was great. The report flows very smoothly. The order makes logical sense and it is very easy to read. I liked how there was enough background information and the reader is not left unclear about any topics discussed. It explained the relevance in detail and all the specific reasons and pieces of evidence for the findings were included in a very easy to understand manner. The topic choice was also a good choice because it is very relevant and its importance is made very clear. It also provided the scientific reasoning and importance of the change in atmosphere that was found and the mystery that still surrounds it.
ReplyDeleteThe only thing I would say could be added, if included in the article, would be to talk about the human journey to mars a little more and how this has accelerated the priority of mars exploration.
This topic is very relevant because space exploration for life on other planets and the ability to support human life elsewhere has always been a high priority mission for humanity. The atmosphere is one of the key components that allow life to exist and survive on other planets. We’ve basically uncovered most, if not all of the regions here on Earth and space. This is a place where even with modern technology there are still mysteries to be uncovered in such an unpredictable galaxy.
Natalie’s review on the article, “Mars’ Atmosphere Stripped by Solar Winds, NASA Says,” was interesting to read since it revealed many new scientific endeavors regarding Mars. She did a fantastic job of using direct quotes from experts mentioned in the article, and this allowed her to have strong evidence supporting the claim that the atmosphere of Mars is thinning. Also, her explanation of the process of the thinning and why this occurred on Mars was concisely written in a style that almost any student could comprehend. I thought that Natalie’s description of this discovery’s relevance to society was a great connection, and it truly makes the reader appreciate these studies of other planets, which are beneficial to the understanding of Earth’s atmosphere as well.
ReplyDeleteThis review was superb, but there are a couple improvements that can be made. I would have liked to read more about how these scientists were able to figure out how Mars’ atmosphere has been leaking. Although she mentioned that rovers assisted in the process, I believe the scientific study would seem more intriguing if the reader knew the entire procedure of it. Secondly, I believe Natalie should have included more specific detail from the article’s video that explicitly explains why the atmosphere began to leak. This would allow for an even more detailed comprehension of this topic.
This article and review reminded me of how similar Mars is to Earth, and it made me wonder whether something similar could happen to Earth’s atmosphere even with its magnetic field. It was fascinating to read about this study of Mars that I have never before read about, and now I hope to find more articles related to this topic that develop the findings of this study.
I found Natalie’s review of “Mars’ Atmosphere Stripped by Solar Winds, NASA Says” very interesting. In her summary, Natalie did a great job at weaving in direct quotes from the article to aid in portraying the information. Along with the information, Natalie’s relevancy paragraph was very well done, portraying the information in another light and opening a new idea as to how this information could be used to aid our planet. Finally, Natalie’s critique of the article did a great job at summing up any questions I may have had about the credibility of the article.
ReplyDeleteWhile this review was very good, there are still a few areas where it could have been improved. While the summary paragraph did a good job in putting forward all of the information, some facts were simply thrown into the paragraph with no explanation which made some parts of the review hard to understand. It also would have been helpful to my understanding of the topic if Natalie had added some part explaining how the scientists were able to discover this.
One question that this review left me with was how this information could be used to further monitor and protect the Earth’s atmosphere. As Natalie states early in her summary, the Earth and Mars originally had very similar atmospheres, what’s stopping the Earth’s atmosphere from deteriorating as Mars’ did.
I enjoyed reading the review of the New York Times article “Mars Atmosphere Stripped by Solar Winds, NASA Says.” The research conducted by the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Mission was well-written and easy to comprehend. The Maven has discovered the atmosphere of Mars has leaked into space. Solar storms, a process in which particles from the sun strip away large portions of the atmosphere, is the cause of the atmosphere leaking. The Maven spacecraft analyzes the effects of solar wind on the atmosphere of the planet. The recent findings of the Maven show that air is released by the elimination of electrons, and the charged atom is then accelerated by electric and magnetic fields of solar wind. Furthermore, the use of quotations from the scientists involved added legitimacy to the review. Nick Schneider, a planetary scientist from the University of Colorado, stated that Mars “without a global field” will cause “auroras” to appear everywhere when “solar conditions are right.” The relevancy of the research being conducted was clearly addressed, as Mars is thought to be a habitable planet with the discovery of liquid water. The new findings add more detail to the characteristics of Mars.
ReplyDeleteThe summary clearly explained the main ideas of the article, but there were some discrepancies in the research that needed further explanation. For example, I did not understand how the leaking of Mars’s atmosphere occurred or its effects. In addition, the actual procedure of the research of the Maven was not addressed, but rather the ideas and history behind it.
The study of the solar winds and its effect on the atmosphere of Mars provides insight into whether or not Mars is a truly habitable planet. The causes of solarwinds and its impact on the sun, solar flares and ultraviolet auras was interesting and relevant
Chang, Kenneth. "Mars’ Atmosphere Stripped by Solar Winds, NASA Says." The New York Times. The New York Times, 05 Nov. 2015. Web. 17 Nov. 2015. .