NEW DELHI: Solar winds maybe led to Mars losing its atmosphere, according to a computer simulation study that confirms the long-held belief that planets need a protective magnetic field to block such harmful radiation to sustain life.
While factors such as the existence of a moderately hot, humid atmosphere and liquid water determine whether a planet can host life, the study, published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, noted that the ability of planets to generate magnetic fields around them is an aspect overlooked.
According to scientists Arnab Basak and Dibyendu Nandi of the Indian Institute of Education and Scientific Research (ISIS) Kolkata, these magnetic fields that envelop the planets can act as a protective umbrella, protecting the atmosphere from the Sun’s super-fast plasma winds.
On Earth, they said that a geo-dynamic mechanism generates the planet’s protective magnetosphere – an invisible shield that prevents the solar wind from eroding our atmosphere.
In the current study, scientists simulated two scenarios of planet Rosie – one considering a young Mars with its magnetosphere intact, and the other with the planet without this force field.
The simulations revealed that in young Mars, the magnetosphere could have acted as a shield that stops the solar wind from getting too close to the planet’s atmosphere, thus protecting it.
Without an intrinsic magnetosphere, the researchers said it was possible that the solar wind’s magnetic field went first and slid past Mars, carrying pieces of the planet’s atmosphere, eventually eroding it.
They said the findings confirm the belief that the magnetospheres around the planets play a crucial role in determining their ability to sustain life.
Alternatively, planets that lose their magnetic field eventually become inhospitable with the loss of the atmosphere, the scientists added.
The researchers believe that the study has important implications for the search for habitable exoplanets through initiatives such as GODMOTHERJames Webb Space Telescope and ISROExoWorlds mission.