Mars Faces Three Times More Potentially Hazardous Asteroids Than Earth [Study]

NASA has monitored asteroids through the Planet Defense Coordination Office (PDCO). However, researchers learned that Mars faces more threats from space rock than Earth.

More Asteroids Approach Mars Compared to Earth

The entire solar system is home to asteroids. A new study found that Mars, our neighbor, encounters three times as dangerous asteroids as Earth.

The asteroid belt, the primary source of rocky debris in our solar system, is far closer to Mars than Earth. Something nearer the source would naturally encounter more strays.

The research team looked into asteroids known as potentially hazardous asteroids (PHAs). These are a subgroup of NEOs (Near-Earth Objects), or, in this case, Near-Mars Objects that are big enough to pose a risk.

Alessandro Morbidelli, an astronomer at the French Observatoire de la Côre d'Azur who is not involved in the new research, said that it was given that more space rocks cross Mars than Earth.

According to Yufan Zhou, principal author, and astronomer at Nanjing University, computer models they worked on validated their hypothesis that more [possibly harmful] asteroids surrounded Mars than around Earth.

Based on their simulations, about 17,000 PHAs might pass by Mars, but only roughly 4,700 of these asteroids are near Earth.

Zhou and associates calculated that at least 52 PHAs approaching Mars each year may be visible to us.

"The population of Mars PHAs is generally less well-known simply due to observational completion-Mars PHAs being further from Earth on average so harder to find-as the authors note," said Peter Brown, an astronomer at Western University in Ontario.

Zhou believed that as the frequency of human trips to Mars increases, there may be growing attention on the potential threat posed by close-in PHAs on Mars. However, Rob Weryk, an astronomer at the University of Western Ontario and member of the Pan-STARRS survey to discover NEOs, argued that Earth will remain the area of focus because Earth-approaching asteroids are the ones that represent an impact hazard to the actual location of mankind.

ALSO READ: NASA to Give Update on Mars Sample Return Mission

Small Dark Formations Captured on Mars' Surface

The European Space Agency's (ESA) Mars Express spacecraft captured what seemed to be a swarm of spiders crawling on the Red Planet's surface. The spiders were dispersed among the planet's hills near the Inca City formation.

Thformation's grid-like ridge network, evocative of the remnants of Incan settlements, gives rise to the name Angustus Labyrinthusm. NASA's Mariner 9 first observed it n in 1972.

Scientists are still determining the exact origins of Inca City. They conjectured that it could have occurred due to lava seeping through the planet's surface fractures or dunes, gradually turning into stone over time.

Another theory holds that Inca City could be located inside a crater created by an earlier impact, which led to the development of faults around the city. Lava may have seeped through these fractures to build the walls of the Inca City structure.

The creatures seen in the image are not actual spiders. They are microscopic dark spots on Mars' surface where gas is piercing through a layer of ice mostly made of carbon dioxide.

RELATED ARTICLE: Small Dark Formations on the Red Planet's Surface Appear Like Spider in Photos Captured by ESA's Mars Express

Check out more news and information on Mars in Science Times.