NASA detected atmospheric oxygen on Mars

For the first time in four decades, oxygen has been detected in the atmosphere of Mars, and even though NASA scientists reported that they had only found half as much as they had expected, the discovery should help them learn more about the Red Planet’s unusual atmosphere.

The atmospheric oxygen was detected by the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) spacecraft, a modified Boeing 747SP jetliner equipped with a 100-inch telescope and operated by the US space agency and the German Aerospace Center (DLR).

According to UPI reports, SOFIA detected the oxygen in Mars’ mesosphere, and the low levels measured there are believed to be due to variations in the layer of gases surrounding the planet. NASA scientists are hopeful that future observations will help enhance their understanding of these atmospheric fluctuations.

“Atomic oxygen in the Martian atmosphere is notoriously difficult to measure,” SOFIA project scientist Pamela Marcum said in a statement. “To observe the far-infrared wavelengths needed to detect atomic oxygen, researchers must be above the majority of Earth’s atmosphere and use highly sensitive instruments, in this case a spectrometer. SOFIA provides both capabilities.”

SOFIA’s latest measurements one of 100+ scheduled for 2016

The new oxygen measurements are the first taken in the Martian atmosphere since the Viking and Mariner missions of the 1970s, according to NASA. They were made possible by SOFIA’s ability to fly at an altitude of between 37,000 and 45,000 feet – higher than most of the infrared blocking moisture in Earth’s atmosphere.

An instrument called the German Receiver for Astronomy at Terahertz Frequencies (GREAT) made it possible for astronomers to distinguish between oxygen found in the atmosphere of Mars and that found in the layer of gases surrounding the Earth. The NASA and DLR researchers have published their findings in a recent edition of the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics.

Called “the largest airborne observatory in the world,” SOFIA’s fourth year of operations began in February, and it is scheduled to participate in more than 100 individual flights and make more than 550 hours of observations before the end of a 12-month cycle, according to NASA.

“We’ll be studying objects spanning the full gamut of astronomical topics including planets, moons, asteroids, and comets in our solar system; star and planet formation; extrasolar planets and the evolution of planetary systems; the interstellar medium and interstellar chemistry; the nucleus of the Milky Way galaxy, and nearby normal and active galaxies,” said Marcum.

“During the February third flight, the target objects ranged from a young planetary system around the naked-eye star Vega, only 25 light years from us, to an infant star 1,500 light years away in the Orion star forming region,” added Erick Young, SOFIA’s Science Mission Operations Director. “We also observed a supermassive black hole hidden behind dense dust clouds in the center of a galaxy 170 million light years away.”

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Image credit: NASA

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