New inquiry evoke that the cutting - off for the habitability of rocky world could have something to do with their sizing . It seems that some planets and moons might not be big enough to hold on to molecules that might be of the essence for the organisation of life — and Mars is among them .
Reporting in theProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences , researchers looked at the presence of different types ( isotopes ) of potassium present in Martian meteorites . Potassium is a moderate " volatile " , the group of elements and compound that can be lost by planetal bodies . Water is another , slightly more volatile , example .
We know Marsonce had weewee . The Martian landscape painting is mark byancient lakesandriver valleys , thoughwhere it all wentis less clear . In this cogitation , K is used as a tracer for water . The team feel that Mars has lose a lot more potassium than Earth ( bigger and wetter than Mars ) , but not as much as the Moon orasteroid Vesta(much minor and drier ) . So the size of the world might be fundamental to its power to keep on to those molecule , like water , that could make life story shoot .
“ Mars ’ fate was decided from the beginning , ” aged writer Professor Kun Wang from Washington University sound out in astatement . “ There is likely a brink on the size requirements of rocky planets to hold enough water to enable habitability and plate tectonics , with mass exceeding that of Mars . ”
This relationship between a body ’s gravitational force and the amount of volatiles have implication for how wet Mars might have been in the past .
“ It ’s indisputable that there used to be liquid water on the surface of Mars , but how much water in entire Mars once had is operose to quantify through remote sensing and rover studies alone , ” Wang added . “ There are many models out there for the bulk piddle content of Mars . In some of them , early Mars was even wetter than the Earth . We do n’t consider that was the case . ”
Volatiles are also lost due to how much ignitor a planetary body gets , among other factor . Scientists have to take this and more into explanation when considering if Mars could ( or has ever ) patronize life sentence and what the chances are that exoplanets – worlds beyond the Solar System – might be habitable .
" This study emphasizes that there is a very special size range of mountains for planet to have just enough but not too much water to develop a habitable surface environment , " tell co - author Klaus Mezger of the Center for Space and Habitability at the University of Bern , Switzerland . " These results will guide stargazer in their search for habitable exoplanets in other solar system . "
