NASA’s MAVEN spacecraft maps electric current systems in Martian atmosphere

NASA's MAVEN spacecraft has entered into Martian Orbit after many years and has successfully started mapping electric currents around Mars that are subject to atmospheric loss. Experimental physicist Robin Ramstad of the University of Colorado reportedly said that the currents play a crucial role in the atmospheric loss. He further added that a group of scientists is currently working on using the currents to ascertain the huge bulk of energy that is drawn from the solar wind and accelerates atmospheric loss. The study was published on May 25 in the journal Nature Astronomy.

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According to a study, the planet also does have a similar kind of current system which is present in the form of colourful displays of light found in the night sky known as the aurora. The study claims that the electric currents of the earth are generated when Earth's magnetic field interacts with the solar wind and flows into the atmosphere along the vertical magnetic field. Since Mars is a rocky, terrestrial planet like Earth, it does not generate a magnetic field on its own like earth. The study reportedly said that the solar winds are generally made up of large electrically charged protons and electrons that get emitted from the Sun at a speed of about a million miles per hour. 

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MAVEN maps out electric currents

Ramstad reportedly said that Mars' atmosphere is quite similar to a metal sphere and added that the currents flow in the upper atmosphere, with a speed of about 120-200 kilometers (about 75-125 miles) above the planet's surface. According to the reports, both MAVEN and previous missions have witnessed hints of these current layers before but they were never successful to map the electric currents in the upper atmosphere. The study claims that detecting these currents in space is almost difficult. The team reportedly used MAVEN spacecraft to map out the average magnetic field structure around Mars in three dimensions and calculated the currents directly from their distortions of the magnetic field structure.

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