Oxygen found on Mars could be key to E.T. life
We know for certain of only one location in the universe that supports life: Earth. All life on our planet depends on water to survive. It is crucial for all life as we know it. Almost everywhere water exists on Earth, living things also exist.
We’ve found several other locations within our solar system where water exists. Europa, Ganymede and Callisto, moons of Jupiter, all have underground oceans.
Mars also has underground water that even occasionally bubbles to the surface. The water on Mars is extremely salty, so any future inhabitants on Mars must purify the water before drinking it.
Anew study led by Vlada Stamenkovic, a researcher at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, finds that the salty water on Mars could absorb oxygen from the thin atmosphere. The study concludes that oxygen concentration in the water may be higher than it was on Earth back when life first began here.
No such studies have been done on other water-bearing worlds of our solar system, but if life is found on any of them, it would be one of the greatest discoveries in the history of humanity.
November highlights: Mars and the first-quarter Moon play tag in the late evening sky on the Nov. 15. Mars is easy enough to find, being among the brightest objects in the night sky, but the close pairing should make for a nice sight. Look for the two low in the southwest between 11 p.m. and midnight.
If you’re up in the early morning hours of Nov. 17 or 18, check out the Leonid meteor shower. This won’t be particularly spectacular, with only one meteor every 3-4 minutes. But this shower holds the record for meteor showers. Leonid meteors come from comet TempelTuttle, which has a 33-year orbit. Each time it comes in close to the sun, it releases another load of small rock grains, which then enter our atmosphere and light up as shooting stars.
Planet visibility report: As the month begins, Jupiter, Mercury, Saturn and Mars are all in the sky at sunset, although both Jupiter and Mercury will be lost in the twilight. Saturn sets about 9:30 p.m. while Mars, almost due south at sunset, remains visible until after midnight. Venus rises a bit more than an hour ahead of the sun, and is easily visible barring clouds, trees or buildings. By the end of the month, Venus rises three hours earlier than the sun and shines brilliantly as the “Morning Star.” Jupiter and Mercury are both completely lost in the sun’s glare. Saturn inches closer to the sun all month, but still sets three hours after the sun does at the month’s end, and Mars remains up until 11 p.m. New moon occurs Wednesday, with full moon on the Nov. 23. Wayne Harris-Wyrick is an Oklahoma astronomer and former director of the Kirkpatrick Planetarium at Science Museum Oklahoma. Questions or comments may be emailed to wizardwayne@zoho.com.