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Giant unexplained earthquake recorded on Mars

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A new study has found that in May 2022, a huge earthquake rocked Mars. The results of the study are published in Geophysical Research Letters.

The source of the quake is not yet known, but it certainly was unusual. In addition to being the most powerful earthquake recorded on Mars, it was also the longest at 10 hours.

“The energy released by this single earthquake on Mars is equivalent to the combined energy of all other marsquakes we have seen so far,” says seismologist John Clinton of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Switzerland.

Earthquake spectrogram recorded on May 4, 2022. (NASA / JPL-Caltech / ETH Zurich)

“Although the event occurred at a distance of more than 2000 kilometers, the waves recorded in InSight were so large that they reached our seismometer.”

A new analysis of the quake, published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, puts it at a magnitude of 4.7. The previous record holder was a magnitude 4.2 earthquake recorded in August 2021.

By Earth’s standards, this may not seem like a very large earthquake, with the most powerful earthquake ever recorded reaching a magnitude of around 9.5. But for a planet that was thought to be seismically inactive, this is impressive.

While Mars and Earth have a lot in common, there are some really key differences. There are no tectonic plates on Mars.

However, it does not have a coherent global magnetic field, which is often interpreted as a sign that little is happening in the interior of Mars, since the Earth’s magnetic field is theoretically the result of internal thermal convection.

Now InSight has shown that Mars is not as seismically quiet as we previously thought. It creaks and rumbles, hinting at ongoing volcanic activity beneath the Cerberus region, where the InSight lander is located, observing the hidden interior of the planet.

Some researchers of the alternative point of view believe that the volcanic activity of Mars is not to blame, since it has not been proven that it exists. And the nature of an earthquake can be very exotic.

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Alien space debris stuck in Earth’s orbit, researchers say

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Recently, a group of experts from Harvard University, led by physics
professor Avi Loeb, announced the possible presence of alien space
debris in Earth’s orbit, reports the Daily Star.

Leading
space research expert Professor Loeb is confident that the discovery of
such “interstellar objects could help expand our knowledge of possible
alien civilizations and technologies. A team of scientists is conducting
research to confirm that some of the objects in our orbit may be
connected to other star systems.

During an interview with Live
Science, Professor Loeb explained that these objects could enter the
solar system from interstellar space, defying Jupiter’s gravitational
pull and occupying limited orbits around the sun.

Some of them may
have technological origins similar to the probes sent by mankind into
interstellar space, such as Voyager 1 and Voyager 2, Pioneer 10 and 11
and New Horizons.

However,
despite these interesting assumptions, Professor Loeb did not specify
what specific objects he was talking about. In his research report, he
notes that there could be “a significant number” of potentially
detectable objects in Earth’s orbit.

To confirm their assumptions,
the team of scientists uses computer simulations and the Vera Rubin
Observatory (Chile) with a high-resolution camera of 3.2 billion pixels.
This will allow for regular observations of the Southern sky and the
possibility of detecting several captured objects about the size of a
football field.

It is assumed that these interstellar objects passed through the
boundaries of the solar system and may carry unique information about
other civilizations and their technologies. If we could confirm the
origin of these objects, the mysteries that open before us, this would
be a real breakthrough in space exploration.

Professor Loeb
expresses hope that the new research will not only help expand our
knowledge of extraterrestrial technologies, but may also lead to the
discovery of new alien civilizations . Answers to such questions can be
of global significance and influence our understanding of the place of
mankind in the Universe.

And
while there are still many questions and assumptions, the study by
Professor Loeb and his team opens a new chapter in space exploration.
Each new discovery can be the key to deciphering the mysteries of the
cosmos and the possibility of encountering alien life forms.

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Betelgeuse is acting strange again

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Betelgeuse, a red giant on the brink of death, continues to show
unusual behavior. After the Great Blackout, which occurred in late 2019
and early 2020, the star became unusually bright. It is now the seventh
brightest star in the sky, while it normally ranks tenth. This has led
to speculation that Betelgeuse is preparing to explode in a
spectacularly large supernova.

However, scientists believe it’s too early to tell, and it’s likely
that this behavior is due to ongoing fluctuations after the Great
Blackout of 2019, and the star will return to normal within a decade.

Betelgeuse is one of the most interesting stars in the sky. It is
about 700 light-years from Earth and is a red giant in the last stage of
its life. It is also an unusual star for a red giant because it was
previously a monster blue-white O-type star, the most massive class of
stars.

Betelgeuse has changed its spectral type because it has almost
exhausted its hydrogen reserves. It now burns helium into carbon and
oxygen and has expanded to a gigantic size: about 764 times the size of
the Sun and about 16.5 to 19 times its mass.

Eventually it will run out of fuel to burn, become a supernova, eject
its outer material, and its core will collapse into a neutron star.

Before the Great Blackout, Betelgeuse also had periodic fluctuations
in brightness. The longest of these cycles is about 5.9 years and the
other is 400 days. But it seems that the Great Blackout caused changes
in these oscillations.

A new paper by astrophysicist Morgan McLeod of the
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics has shown that the 400-day
cycle appears to have been halved. This pulsational cycle is probably
caused by expansion and contraction within the star. According to
simulations carried out by MacLeod and his colleagues, the convective
flow inside Betelgeuse may have risen and become material that separates
from the star.

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