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A MASSIVE Underground Lake was first detected on Mars, raising the possibility that more water – and possibly even life – exists there, international astronomers said on Wednesday.
Located under a layer of Martian ice, the lake is about 20 kilometers wide, said the report conducted by Italian researchers in the American newspaper Science .
This is the largest liquid water plan found on the red planet. "This is an amazing result that suggests that water on Mars is not a temporary net as previous discoveries but a persistent water mbad that provides living conditions for long periods of time. periods, "said Alan Duffy, badociate professor at the University of Swinburne in Melbourne. who was not involved in the study.
Mars is now cold, barren and dry, but it was hot and humid. There was at least 3.6 billion years of liquid water and lakes.
Scientists are eager to find signs of contemporary water, as these discoveries are essential to discover the mystery of life on Mars.
The ability to access water sources could also help humans survive during a future crewed mission on the planet next to Earth.
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This particular lake, however, would not be drinkable, and stands at nearly 1 , 5 kilometers below the icy surface in a harsh and icy environment.
The question of whether microbial life forms are found within is a subject of debate. Some experts are skeptical about the possibility because the lake is so cold and brackish, and mixed with a high dose of dissolved Martian salts and minerals.
The temperature is probably lower than the freezing point of pure water, but may remain liquid due to the presence of magnesium, calcium and sodium.
"This discovery is of extraordinary importance and can only increase speculation about the presence of living organisms on the red planet," said Fred Watson, of the Australian Astronomical Observatory.
"Caution is required, however, because the concentration of salts needed to maintain liquid water could be fatal for any microbial life similar to that of the Earth," Watson said. Did not participate in the research.
The discovery was made with the aid of radar instruments aboard the Mars Express orbiter of the European Space Agency, launched in 2003.
L & # 39; Tool is called Mars Advanced Radar for Underground and Ionospheric Sounding (MARSIS), and was designed to find groundwater by sending radar pulses that penetrate the surface and ice caps.
MARSIS "then measures how radio waves propagate and reflect toward the spacecraft," says the study. Lead author Roberto Orosei of the Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica in Bologna, Italy, studied an area called Planum Austral, located in the southern ice cap of Mars, from May 2012 to December 2015. [19659003] A total of 29 sets of radar samplings showed a "very abrupt change in its badociated radar signal", allowing scientists to map the contours of the lake.
"The radar profile of this area is similar to that of the lakes of liquid water found under the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets on Earth, suggesting that there is a lake under -glacial at this location on Mars, "says the report.
"This is the first detected body of water, David Stillman, senior researcher at the Department of Space Studies of the Southwest Research Institute in Texas, told AFP in an email
However, Mr. Stillman, who was not involved in the research, said: another spacecraft, or other instruments, must be able to confirm the discovery.
He noted that a higher frequency radar instrument manufactured by the Italian space agency SHARED, aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter launched in 2005, was unable to detect groundwater.
"It is strange that SHARED can not confirm this discovery. In fact, SHARED can not penetrate through the ice here and no one understands why he can not, "said Mr. Stillman.
" This suggests that something weird is going on here. So, I'm skeptical about this discovery. But researchers are excited about the potential for future discoveries, because if liquid water could be found at the south pole of Mars, it could also be elsewhere
. the location other than the MARSIS radar on the Mars Express spacecraft is the most sensitive to this region, which means that there are probably similar water deposits under the ground all over Mars. " , added Professor Duffy
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