2023-08-14 18:39:54
Data obtained by NASA from its “Insight” probe revealed an “acceleration” of the rotation of Mars, without knowing the reason yet. The new data, published in the journal Nature, indicates that the planet’s rotation is accelerating by about 4 milliseconds per year, which shortens the length of a day on Mars by a fraction of a millisecond every year. A sol day is about 40 minutes longer than an Earth day. “It’s a subtle acceleration,” said NASA. “It’s really cool to be able to get this latest measurement with such precision,” said Bruce Banerdt, who has worked on the probe before. The study indicates a “slow acceleration in the rate of Mars’ rotation”, which may be the result of “a change in the internal dynamics of Mars or in its atmosphere and ice cover”. Scientists say that the reason for this acceleration may be the accumulation of ice at the poles of Mars, or the appearance of land masses after being covered with ice. When a planet’s mass changes in this way, it can cause the planet’s rotation to accelerate, according to NASA. Sebastien Le Maistre, lead author of the study, said the differences were “a few tens of centimeters over the course of a Martian year. It takes a very long time and a lot of data before we see differences.”
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