Space & Astronomy

Mars may be slowly forming a ring system

By T.K. Randall
February 19, 2017 ·  6 comments

The moons of Mars could eventually break up and create rings. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech Scientists have long postulated that over the course of several million years, Mars' two moons will break up in to small pieces and become scattered around the planet to form a ring system.

But what if something like this was actually already happening ?

When it arrived at Mars back in 2013, the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) probe actually did spot a cloud of high-altitude dust around the planet, however due to the way the particles were spread out the team concluded that they had likely come from interplanetary space.Now though, a fresh analysis of the probe's data by researchers in India has suggested that Mars may also be surrounded by proto-rings made up of at least some dust from Phobos and Deimos.

The team argues that smaller particles thrown up by meteoroid strikes are typically swept away by the solar wind while the planet's gravity pulls the larger pieces in to orbit around its two moons.

Some of this dust can then end up making its way in to Mars' upper atmosphere.

"The bigger ring particles can reach Mars over a period of time, in addition to the interplanetary dust particles," said Jayesh Pabari of the Physical Research Laboratory in Ahmedabad, India.

Source: New Scientist | Comments (6)

Tags: Mars, Rings