According to a remarkable new finding made by an astronomer at the U.S. Naval Observatory. There is a possibility that Mars was once surrounded by a hefty protective satellite. Indeed, That moon might have been significant in helping shape geophysical characteristics of the planet. This blog, however, centers on an interesting hypothesis and what it means as far as the Red planet is concerned.
Mysterious Mars – Has Any Other Logical Shape?
At this point, Mars is out of its expected normality of being a perfect sphere. Rather, it has the ugliest form ever with some noticeable variations in the dimensions of its width, length and height. For ages now, this shape has been of great interest to scientists as it should be considered as a planetary conundrum.
As expressed by Michael Efroimsky who is working with the US Naval Observatory, this interesting shape owes it existence to the fact that the red planet once had and perhaps still has a donut-like satellite or a moon. Efroimsky as hinted even though there is no proof, this hypothetical moon named ‘Nerio” would have succeeded in creating the massive bulge known as the Tharsis bulge located near the equatorial region of Mars which boasts some of the largest volcanoes in the Solar system.
Earlier, Tharsis bulge was associated with the internal processes like lava flow or some other geological activity. On the other hand, calculating Mars subtracting such a region from the planet would hardly alter the figure perceived; so he developed the theory that there existed a large moon, now lost but which was responsible for the Theresis bulge.
The Disappearing Mystery Of Nerio
According to Efroimsky’s hypothesis, Nerio, a moon of Mars which has never been found, may have been at least one-third of the mass of the Moon. If this was the case, it would have been sufficient to create the Tharsis bulge and promote the development of volcanoes that are present in the targeted area.
In the estimation of Efroimsky, it can be said that the bulge of Tharsis was made while Mars is in the formative years which is expected to be the soft period in the history of the planet. This bulge is supposed to have formed at the early stage in Mars history, this is when the planet was still very hot or very soft. As years went by and the planet became cooler and thus also hardening, the bulge lasted as a major external trait of the Mars planet.
But what happened to Nerio? Efroimsky has an enticing hypothesis: there is a good chance that the moon was hit hard and broken up, leaving behind only the lumpy martian moons of Phobos and Deimos. It would also clarify the unusual form and characteristics of these two satellites which are much smaller and are shallower than what is found in the Earth’s satellite.
Undoubtedly, this is where the educated guesswork comes in, and there is no other way to validate this theory of Efroimsky’s than to acquire more evidence within Mars and its moons. As luck would have it, there are hints that this could be possible in the not too distant future.
Conclusion
Nailing down the argument that the present Mars did house a big moon, which isn’t here with us today, is not only intriguing, it’s even likely to change the game. In case Efroimsky’s theory stands the test of time and gets confirmed, it will bring to the fore more new knowledge on Mars and its change over the years as an individual celestial body as well as the entire solar system. While more research is needed to confirm this hypothesis, the degree of plausibility of the outcomes in terms of consequences is impressive, and could promote further examination of the planet in question in addition to the factors which have influenced it.
