The ATLAS survey discovered a small asteroid shortly before it hit Earth’s atmosphere on October 22, 2024. This is the 10th time astronomers have found an approaching space rock just before the asteroid hit Earth’s atmosphere. This image shows a fireball from a different event. Tuesday’s asteroid hit over the Pacific Ocean in daylight. Image via Czech station No. 16 of the European Fireball Network/ Planetary Science Institute.
Small asteroid hit Earth’s atmosphere
For the 10th time ever and the 3rd time just this year, astronomers discovered an asteroid right before it impacted Earth’s atmosphere. The latest was a small space rock – perhaps 1 meter in diameter – which currently has the name A11dc6D. With just a handful of observations, the ATLAS survey briefly tracked the space rock before it harmlessly impacted the atmosphere above the Pacific Ocean.
The little asteroid would have led to a fireball – or exceptionally bright meteor – in the sky about 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) off the California coast. And indeed, NASA’s Center for Near Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) reported a fireball at 10:54 UTC on October 22, 2024. The energy released from the impact with our atmosphere would have been a little less than that from the asteroid that hit above the Philippines on September 4, 2024.
How does the CNEOS see these fireballs over remote areas of the globe? With satellites used for mapping lightning. The Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM) captures both lightning and bright meteors that strike our atmosphere.
Fireball just reported on CNEOS page impacting 1000 km off the coast of California today at 1054 UT. Energy of 0.15 kT corresponds roughly to a 1m diameter object. @IMOmeteors@amsmeteors
This is now the 10th object for which an impact was predicted in advance. These events are becoming almost routine as surveys like ATLAS, Catalina and Pan-Starrs become more efficient. This is the third such telescopically detected object to hit Earth in 2024.
Last night, October 21, was the peak of the Orionid meteor shower. Plus, last night there were hundreds of witnesses who captured video and reported seeing a fireball near the U.S.-Canada border around Lake Erie. This event happened at around 7 p.m. EDT (23 UTC) on October 21, 2024.
Every day, Earth is bombarded with more than 100 tons of dust and sand-sized particles. About once a year, an automobile-sized asteroid hits Earth’s atmosphere, creates an impressive fireball, and burns up before reaching the surface.
So this 1-meter asteroid was pretty unremarkable, except that astronomers spotted it before impact. And with our increasing technology, this will become a more frequent occurrence.
If you capture a photo of a fireball or bright meteor, submit it to us!
Bottom line: A small asteroid hit Earth’s atmosphere just after it was discovered on Tuesday, October 22, 2024. It impacted harmlessly over the Pacific Ocean.
The ATLAS survey discovered a small asteroid shortly before it hit Earth’s atmosphere on October 22, 2024. This is the 10th time astronomers have found an approaching space rock just before the asteroid hit Earth’s atmosphere. This image shows a fireball from a different event. Tuesday’s asteroid hit over the Pacific Ocean in daylight. Image via Czech station No. 16 of the European Fireball Network/ Planetary Science Institute.
Small asteroid hit Earth’s atmosphere
For the 10th time ever and the 3rd time just this year, astronomers discovered an asteroid right before it impacted Earth’s atmosphere. The latest was a small space rock – perhaps 1 meter in diameter – which currently has the name A11dc6D. With just a handful of observations, the ATLAS survey briefly tracked the space rock before it harmlessly impacted the atmosphere above the Pacific Ocean.
The little asteroid would have led to a fireball – or exceptionally bright meteor – in the sky about 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) off the California coast. And indeed, NASA’s Center for Near Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) reported a fireball at 10:54 UTC on October 22, 2024. The energy released from the impact with our atmosphere would have been a little less than that from the asteroid that hit above the Philippines on September 4, 2024.
How does the CNEOS see these fireballs over remote areas of the globe? With satellites used for mapping lightning. The Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM) captures both lightning and bright meteors that strike our atmosphere.
Fireball just reported on CNEOS page impacting 1000 km off the coast of California today at 1054 UT. Energy of 0.15 kT corresponds roughly to a 1m diameter object. @IMOmeteors@amsmeteors
This is now the 10th object for which an impact was predicted in advance. These events are becoming almost routine as surveys like ATLAS, Catalina and Pan-Starrs become more efficient. This is the third such telescopically detected object to hit Earth in 2024.
Last night, October 21, was the peak of the Orionid meteor shower. Plus, last night there were hundreds of witnesses who captured video and reported seeing a fireball near the U.S.-Canada border around Lake Erie. This event happened at around 7 p.m. EDT (23 UTC) on October 21, 2024.
Every day, Earth is bombarded with more than 100 tons of dust and sand-sized particles. About once a year, an automobile-sized asteroid hits Earth’s atmosphere, creates an impressive fireball, and burns up before reaching the surface.
So this 1-meter asteroid was pretty unremarkable, except that astronomers spotted it before impact. And with our increasing technology, this will become a more frequent occurrence.
If you capture a photo of a fireball or bright meteor, submit it to us!
Bottom line: A small asteroid hit Earth’s atmosphere just after it was discovered on Tuesday, October 22, 2024. It impacted harmlessly over the Pacific Ocean.
This artist’s impression shows the brown dwarf twins Gliese 229 Ba and Gliese 229 Bb. For 29 years, astronomers thought they were a single brown dwarf named Gliese 229 B. But new observations have revealed Gliese 229 B – the first-known brown dwarf – is actually 2 brown dwarfs, orbiting each other every 12 days. Image via K. Miller/ R. Hurt/ (Caltech/ IPAC).
Brown dwarfs are ‘failed stars’ with masses greater than planets but less than stars. The first confirmed brown dwarf was Gliese 229 B in 1995.
But Gliese 229 B’s brightness is puzzling. Based on its mass, it should be much brighter, said astronomers.
Now, astronomers say Gliese 229 B is two brown dwarfs, not one, as they originally thought. The researchers said the two brown dwarfs orbit extremely close together.
First-known brown dwarf is really twins
In 1995, astronomers announced the discovery of the first-known brown dwarf, Gliese 229 B. Brown dwarfs are failed stars: more massive than the largest planets, but not large enough to begin fusion and shine as stars. Yet Gliese 229 B was a little strange. It’s dimmer than it should be, given its mass. On October 16, 2024, two Caltech-led teams said Gliese 229 B is not a single brown dwarf but twins. The pair orbit each other so closely that their dual nature remained undetected for 29 years.
The scientists published their results in two papers. The peer-reviewed journal Naturepublished the first paper on October 16, 2024. And the peer-reviewed journal The Astrophysical Journal Letterspublished the second paper on October 16, 2024.
View larger. | Brown dwarfs are failed stars, falling between planets and stars in terms of mass. Image via NASA/ JPL-Caltech.
First-known brown dwarf was mysterious
A team of Caltech researchers first discovered Gliese 229 B in 1995, orbiting a red dwarf star 19 light-years away. With a mass about 70 times that of Jupiter, Gliese 229 B was far heavier than scientists think a planet can be. But Gliese 229 B’s atmosphere contained methane … not uncommon for a gas giant planet, but strange for a star. They’d found the missing link between planets and stars – a brown dwarf – theorized to exist since the 1960s.
Fast-forward to 2024, and scientists have discovered several thousand of these star-planet hybrids. But even after decades of observations, a mystery surrounding Gliese 229 B has persisted. Given its a huge mass, the brown dwarf doesn’t shine as brightly as scientists’ models predict.
Astronomers have theorized this could be explained by Gliese 229 B being a binary system, where two brown dwarfs orbit each other. But, as lead author of the new study Jerry W. Xuan explained, evidence for this has proved elusive:
To evade notice by astronomers for 30 years, the two brown dwarfs would have to be very close to each other.
A tight-knit brown dwarf binary
But now, astronomers’ suspicions are confirmed. And the two brown dwarfs making up Gliese 229 B are quite close indeed. Using two different instruments at the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope, Xuan and his team detected a brown dwarf pair separated by a distance only 16 times larger than the distance between Earth and the moon. The pair are so close that they zoom around each other in just 12 days.
The newly named brown dwarfs Gliese 229 Ba and Gliese 229 Bb weigh about 38 and 34 times the mass of Jupiter, respectively. So they add up to the roughly 70 Jupiter masses that scientists attributed to Gliese 229 B. And the brightness of the system is exactly what scientists would expect from these two smaller bodies. So the discovery seems to have solved the mystery of the Gliese 229 B’s brightness … while upending our understanding of the famous brown dwarf. Xuan said:
Gliese 229 B was considered the poster-child brown dwarf. And now we know we were wrong all along about the nature of the object. It’s not one but two. We just weren’t able to probe separations this close until now.
Watch Gliese 229 Ba and Gliese 229 Bb orbit each other.
A new field of brown dwarf study?
We’ve found binary brown dwarf systems before, but never this close together. How did this tight-knit pair of failed stars come to be? It’s a mystery. One theory says binary brown dwarfs could form when the swirling disk of gas and dust around a young star splits, creating two brown dwarf ‘seeds’. If these young brown dwarfs pass close to each other, they could become gravitationally bound, like Gliese 229 Ba and Bb.
That begs another question: If a process like this could create a brown dwarf binary, could it also create a binary pair of exoplanets? It’s an intriguing prospect. The research team is hoping to probe these questions further as they expand their search to find more closely orbiting brown dwarf binaries.
Bottom line: Gliese 229 B – the first-known brown dwarf – is really a binary system of two brown dwarfs entwined in an incredibly close orbit.
This artist’s impression shows the brown dwarf twins Gliese 229 Ba and Gliese 229 Bb. For 29 years, astronomers thought they were a single brown dwarf named Gliese 229 B. But new observations have revealed Gliese 229 B – the first-known brown dwarf – is actually 2 brown dwarfs, orbiting each other every 12 days. Image via K. Miller/ R. Hurt/ (Caltech/ IPAC).
Brown dwarfs are ‘failed stars’ with masses greater than planets but less than stars. The first confirmed brown dwarf was Gliese 229 B in 1995.
But Gliese 229 B’s brightness is puzzling. Based on its mass, it should be much brighter, said astronomers.
Now, astronomers say Gliese 229 B is two brown dwarfs, not one, as they originally thought. The researchers said the two brown dwarfs orbit extremely close together.
First-known brown dwarf is really twins
In 1995, astronomers announced the discovery of the first-known brown dwarf, Gliese 229 B. Brown dwarfs are failed stars: more massive than the largest planets, but not large enough to begin fusion and shine as stars. Yet Gliese 229 B was a little strange. It’s dimmer than it should be, given its mass. On October 16, 2024, two Caltech-led teams said Gliese 229 B is not a single brown dwarf but twins. The pair orbit each other so closely that their dual nature remained undetected for 29 years.
The scientists published their results in two papers. The peer-reviewed journal Naturepublished the first paper on October 16, 2024. And the peer-reviewed journal The Astrophysical Journal Letterspublished the second paper on October 16, 2024.
View larger. | Brown dwarfs are failed stars, falling between planets and stars in terms of mass. Image via NASA/ JPL-Caltech.
First-known brown dwarf was mysterious
A team of Caltech researchers first discovered Gliese 229 B in 1995, orbiting a red dwarf star 19 light-years away. With a mass about 70 times that of Jupiter, Gliese 229 B was far heavier than scientists think a planet can be. But Gliese 229 B’s atmosphere contained methane … not uncommon for a gas giant planet, but strange for a star. They’d found the missing link between planets and stars – a brown dwarf – theorized to exist since the 1960s.
Fast-forward to 2024, and scientists have discovered several thousand of these star-planet hybrids. But even after decades of observations, a mystery surrounding Gliese 229 B has persisted. Given its a huge mass, the brown dwarf doesn’t shine as brightly as scientists’ models predict.
Astronomers have theorized this could be explained by Gliese 229 B being a binary system, where two brown dwarfs orbit each other. But, as lead author of the new study Jerry W. Xuan explained, evidence for this has proved elusive:
To evade notice by astronomers for 30 years, the two brown dwarfs would have to be very close to each other.
A tight-knit brown dwarf binary
But now, astronomers’ suspicions are confirmed. And the two brown dwarfs making up Gliese 229 B are quite close indeed. Using two different instruments at the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope, Xuan and his team detected a brown dwarf pair separated by a distance only 16 times larger than the distance between Earth and the moon. The pair are so close that they zoom around each other in just 12 days.
The newly named brown dwarfs Gliese 229 Ba and Gliese 229 Bb weigh about 38 and 34 times the mass of Jupiter, respectively. So they add up to the roughly 70 Jupiter masses that scientists attributed to Gliese 229 B. And the brightness of the system is exactly what scientists would expect from these two smaller bodies. So the discovery seems to have solved the mystery of the Gliese 229 B’s brightness … while upending our understanding of the famous brown dwarf. Xuan said:
Gliese 229 B was considered the poster-child brown dwarf. And now we know we were wrong all along about the nature of the object. It’s not one but two. We just weren’t able to probe separations this close until now.
Watch Gliese 229 Ba and Gliese 229 Bb orbit each other.
A new field of brown dwarf study?
We’ve found binary brown dwarf systems before, but never this close together. How did this tight-knit pair of failed stars come to be? It’s a mystery. One theory says binary brown dwarfs could form when the swirling disk of gas and dust around a young star splits, creating two brown dwarf ‘seeds’. If these young brown dwarfs pass close to each other, they could become gravitationally bound, like Gliese 229 Ba and Bb.
That begs another question: If a process like this could create a brown dwarf binary, could it also create a binary pair of exoplanets? It’s an intriguing prospect. The research team is hoping to probe these questions further as they expand their search to find more closely orbiting brown dwarf binaries.
Bottom line: Gliese 229 B – the first-known brown dwarf – is really a binary system of two brown dwarfs entwined in an incredibly close orbit.
Ryan Connor from North Royalton, Ohio, was one among many people who captured a large fireball, on October 21, 2024. The fireball was visible in early evening, across a wide area in the U.S. and some parts of Canada. Image via the American Meteor Society
I just finished posting 342 reports of a large fireball – an exceptionally bright meteor – that occurred over North America, near the U.S.-Canada border. It happened at around 7 p.m. EDT on the evening of October 21, 2024. The American Meteor Society received reports from witnesses ranging from North Carolina westward to Kentucky, northward to Michigan and eastward to New York.
Fireball can be very bright! And they’re nearly always unexpected. This one’s computer-generated trajectory was from west to east over Lake Erie, the 4th-largest lake by surface area of North America’s five Great Lakes (and the 11th-largest lake globally). The trajectory ended just offshore from Erie, Pennsylvania.
The reason fireballs are visible from such a large area is that they appear at a high altitude of 50 miles (80 km). The Taurid meteor shower is currently active and above the horizon at that time of night, but this fireball was moving in a direction opposite the Taurids. So this event was most likely a random meteor, not associated with any known meteor shower.
Fireballs have been frequent lately, but this is one of the largest events to have occurred recently. If you have witnessed this or any other fireball, we encourage you to share your experience by filling out at fireball report.
Watch the October 21 fireball on video
Ryan Connor from North Royalton, Ohio, captured the fireball with 2 cameras.
John Oelschlager recorded this video from West Mifflin, Pennsylvania.
Brad Hague also captured the fireball from Toronto, Canada.
Walter White from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, was also suprised by the fireball.
Bottom Line: A bright fireball occurred over Lake Erie on Monday evening – October 21, 2024. The American Meteor Society had received nearly 350 reports as of this writing (11 UTC on October 22), but it must been seen by thousands in the surrounding area.
Ryan Connor from North Royalton, Ohio, was one among many people who captured a large fireball, on October 21, 2024. The fireball was visible in early evening, across a wide area in the U.S. and some parts of Canada. Image via the American Meteor Society
I just finished posting 342 reports of a large fireball – an exceptionally bright meteor – that occurred over North America, near the U.S.-Canada border. It happened at around 7 p.m. EDT on the evening of October 21, 2024. The American Meteor Society received reports from witnesses ranging from North Carolina westward to Kentucky, northward to Michigan and eastward to New York.
Fireball can be very bright! And they’re nearly always unexpected. This one’s computer-generated trajectory was from west to east over Lake Erie, the 4th-largest lake by surface area of North America’s five Great Lakes (and the 11th-largest lake globally). The trajectory ended just offshore from Erie, Pennsylvania.
The reason fireballs are visible from such a large area is that they appear at a high altitude of 50 miles (80 km). The Taurid meteor shower is currently active and above the horizon at that time of night, but this fireball was moving in a direction opposite the Taurids. So this event was most likely a random meteor, not associated with any known meteor shower.
Fireballs have been frequent lately, but this is one of the largest events to have occurred recently. If you have witnessed this or any other fireball, we encourage you to share your experience by filling out at fireball report.
Watch the October 21 fireball on video
Ryan Connor from North Royalton, Ohio, captured the fireball with 2 cameras.
John Oelschlager recorded this video from West Mifflin, Pennsylvania.
Brad Hague also captured the fireball from Toronto, Canada.
Walter White from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, was also suprised by the fireball.
Bottom Line: A bright fireball occurred over Lake Erie on Monday evening – October 21, 2024. The American Meteor Society had received nearly 350 reports as of this writing (11 UTC on October 22), but it must been seen by thousands in the surrounding area.
Auriga the Charioteer is a popular constellation for Northern Hemisphere observers in autumn, because its flashing star advertises its presence. Capella, the brightest star in Auriga, flashes red, blue and green when it’s close to the horizon and seen through a thick layer of Earth’s atmosphere. Close to Capella are a pair of stars known as The Kids, baby goats that the Charioteer carries. Auriga houses three star clusters, easy targets to hunt down with binoculars.
Auriga is a far-northern constellation. It’s close enough to the North Star that people in the northern U.S. and Canada – and similar latitudes – see it as circumpolar. In other words, they can see all or part of the constellation on any night of the year.
But some times of the year are definitely better than others. If you want to see the entirety of Auriga, start looking for the constellation and flickering Capella in Northern Hemisphere autumn. Soon you’ll be familiar with its gems and ready to go deeper by the time it moves higher and into better viewing position by winter.
The bright star Capella in the constellation Auriga the Charioteer is our #1 choice for flashiest star on October evenings. That’s because Capella is bright at magnitude 0.24. And it’s low in the sky, in the northeast direction as seen from the Northern Hemisphere, in the evening at this time of the year. To be sure you’ve found Capella, look for a little triangle of stars nearby. Capella is sometimes called the Goat Star, and this little asterism is called The Kids.
Auriga the Charioteer’s brightest star, Capella
Auriga’s brightest star, Alpha Aurigae, is a twinkling beauty named Capella. It’s a golden star, somewhat similar to our sun. In fact, if you could get some distance away from our solar system – light-years away – you might see our sun much as we see Capella. Capella is located at one corner of the constellation Auriga, marking the Charioteer’s left shoulder. By the way, Capella has the nickname the Goat Star.
Capella garners a lot of attention on autumn evenings in the Northern Hemisphere because we see it near the horizon through a thick layer of Earth’s atmosphere. The wavering atmosphere causes the light from the star to jump around, flashing bright colors of red, green and blue, making it look like an emergency vehicle parked in space. On winter evenings, Capella moves overhead near zenith and its flashiness is dampened as we look at it through a thinner layer of atmosphere.
Capella shines at a magnitude of 0.08 and is the 6th brightest star in the sky. It’s so bright because it’s nearby. Capella lies just 43 light-years away. This star marks one of the corners of the Winter Circle.
In fact, Capella is actually a pair of binary stars, both of which are yellow giant stars with small red dwarf companions.
Capella is also the closest 1st magnitude star to Polaris, the star currently marking our north celestial pole.
Auriga carrying the goat and kids as depicted in Urania’s Mirror, a set of constellation cards published in London circa 1825. Image via Wikipedia (public domain).
The asterism of The Kids
If you’re unsure whether you’ve identified Capella, you can always look nearby for a small triangle of stars. This triangle is an asterism, or a smaller named configuration of stars. While Capella is the Goat Star, this little triangle asterism represents The Kids. Learn more about Auriga and The Kids.
Other stars in Auriga the Charioteer
Menkalinan, the second brightest star in Auriga, marks the Charioteer’s right shoulder. This star is also fairly nearby, at a distance of 85 light-years.
Notice the star Elnath at the southern tip of Auriga. This star used to belong both to Auriga, where it was known as the heel of the Charioteer, and to the constellation Taurus, where it represented the tip of the Bull’s northern horn. In the last century, though, the International Astronomical Union decreed that this star shall belong only to Taurus!
Star clusters in Auriga the Charioteer
In a dark sky, using binoculars, you can spot some easy-to-see star clusters within Auriga: M36, M37 and M38. These Messier objects fall nearly in a line with M36 in the middle. The open star clusters have distinct personalities when viewed with magnification.
M36 bears the nickname the Pinwheel Cluster and looks reminiscent of the Pleiades. M37 is the brightest and largest of the three clusters and lies opposite the Milky Way’s galactic center, still in the plane of our galaxy but looking out to its fringes. Lastly, M38 has the nickname the Starfish Cluster. Others think this cluster looks like an X or the Greek letter Pi. What do you see?
Auriga the Charioteer is a popular constellation for Northern Hemisphere observers in autumn, because its flashing star advertises its presence. Capella, the brightest star in Auriga, flashes red, blue and green when it’s close to the horizon and seen through a thick layer of Earth’s atmosphere. Close to Capella are a pair of stars known as The Kids, baby goats that the Charioteer carries. Auriga houses three star clusters, easy targets to hunt down with binoculars.
Auriga is a far-northern constellation. It’s close enough to the North Star that people in the northern U.S. and Canada – and similar latitudes – see it as circumpolar. In other words, they can see all or part of the constellation on any night of the year.
But some times of the year are definitely better than others. If you want to see the entirety of Auriga, start looking for the constellation and flickering Capella in Northern Hemisphere autumn. Soon you’ll be familiar with its gems and ready to go deeper by the time it moves higher and into better viewing position by winter.
The bright star Capella in the constellation Auriga the Charioteer is our #1 choice for flashiest star on October evenings. That’s because Capella is bright at magnitude 0.24. And it’s low in the sky, in the northeast direction as seen from the Northern Hemisphere, in the evening at this time of the year. To be sure you’ve found Capella, look for a little triangle of stars nearby. Capella is sometimes called the Goat Star, and this little asterism is called The Kids.
Auriga the Charioteer’s brightest star, Capella
Auriga’s brightest star, Alpha Aurigae, is a twinkling beauty named Capella. It’s a golden star, somewhat similar to our sun. In fact, if you could get some distance away from our solar system – light-years away – you might see our sun much as we see Capella. Capella is located at one corner of the constellation Auriga, marking the Charioteer’s left shoulder. By the way, Capella has the nickname the Goat Star.
Capella garners a lot of attention on autumn evenings in the Northern Hemisphere because we see it near the horizon through a thick layer of Earth’s atmosphere. The wavering atmosphere causes the light from the star to jump around, flashing bright colors of red, green and blue, making it look like an emergency vehicle parked in space. On winter evenings, Capella moves overhead near zenith and its flashiness is dampened as we look at it through a thinner layer of atmosphere.
Capella shines at a magnitude of 0.08 and is the 6th brightest star in the sky. It’s so bright because it’s nearby. Capella lies just 43 light-years away. This star marks one of the corners of the Winter Circle.
In fact, Capella is actually a pair of binary stars, both of which are yellow giant stars with small red dwarf companions.
Capella is also the closest 1st magnitude star to Polaris, the star currently marking our north celestial pole.
Auriga carrying the goat and kids as depicted in Urania’s Mirror, a set of constellation cards published in London circa 1825. Image via Wikipedia (public domain).
The asterism of The Kids
If you’re unsure whether you’ve identified Capella, you can always look nearby for a small triangle of stars. This triangle is an asterism, or a smaller named configuration of stars. While Capella is the Goat Star, this little triangle asterism represents The Kids. Learn more about Auriga and The Kids.
Other stars in Auriga the Charioteer
Menkalinan, the second brightest star in Auriga, marks the Charioteer’s right shoulder. This star is also fairly nearby, at a distance of 85 light-years.
Notice the star Elnath at the southern tip of Auriga. This star used to belong both to Auriga, where it was known as the heel of the Charioteer, and to the constellation Taurus, where it represented the tip of the Bull’s northern horn. In the last century, though, the International Astronomical Union decreed that this star shall belong only to Taurus!
Star clusters in Auriga the Charioteer
In a dark sky, using binoculars, you can spot some easy-to-see star clusters within Auriga: M36, M37 and M38. These Messier objects fall nearly in a line with M36 in the middle. The open star clusters have distinct personalities when viewed with magnification.
M36 bears the nickname the Pinwheel Cluster and looks reminiscent of the Pleiades. M37 is the brightest and largest of the three clusters and lies opposite the Milky Way’s galactic center, still in the plane of our galaxy but looking out to its fringes. Lastly, M38 has the nickname the Starfish Cluster. Others think this cluster looks like an X or the Greek letter Pi. What do you see?
Crows get a bad rap. Many cultures associate them with death, bad omens and ghost stories. It probably doesn’t help that a group of crows is called a murder of crows. But crows are one of the most intelligent animals in the world. In addition, they are sociable birds that create their own gangs, show empathy, and love to have fun. Just like us!
Crows are extremely smart
There are 120 species of crows. They are one of the most intelligent birds, and also one of the smartest animals, in the world.
Crows are capable of creating tools from scratch and using them. And not only that, but they observe other crows and memorize their designs and then modify them. In this way, over time, they are able to improve the quality of their tools. Likewise, crows are cultural animals and transmit their knowledge to the next generation.
For example, people have observed crows making a kind of elongated hook with parts torn from plants. Thanks to this tool, they can extract larvae and other food that is otherwise inaccessible inside pieces of wood.
And this situation applies to more than just their natural and known environment. These are animals that have an impressive ability to adapt to different situations, even in our modern world. Crows throw nuts on the road so cars can run over and crack them. This undoubtedly demonstrates their ability to find solutions.
Crows are one of the most intelligent animals in the world. They create and use tools and adapt to many situations. Image via Mayukh Karmakar/ Pexels.
Experiments with crows
Obviously, this intelligence has caught the attention of scientists around the world. That’s why they’ve been tested through countless experiments.
In one of them, the researchers trained eight crows to put pieces of paper of different sizes into a vending machine that rewarded them based on the dimensions of the paper they placed in it. The crows only achieved their reward with paper of a particular size.
Once the crows recognized what size earned them a reward, they dedicated themselves to introducing only that size. And when they only had large pieces left, they began to tear them until they obtained the size they needed. This shows they can design and use tools from scratch to cut paper. In addition, they create mental schemes, have memory and can solve problems in an impressive way.
As these birds are so smart, scientists around the world have performed countless experiments with them. Image via Steve Smith/ Unsplash.
Experiments conducted by crows
Crows are sociable
Once they leave the nest, crows create groups with members of their own age to hang out, kind of like teenagers with their gangs. Plus, they love to have fun together. For example, people have seen crows sliding through snow on a roof over and over again just for fun. They also enjoy swinging or playing with humans and other animals.
Their fun and games demonstrate a degree of intelligence that we see in only a few animals in the world. Crows also recognize each other and themselves in mirrors. Thus, they are aware of their existence.
In addition, these birds have a great sense of community, since they also attend funerals to say goodbye to their dead. When one of the members of these gangs or groups dies, the entire group approaches the area and rests there for hours, fluttering and making loud sounds, like a sad moan.
Crows are sociable creatures and create groups with members of their own age when they leave their nests. Image via Qurratul Ayin Sadia/ Unsplash.
The communication of crows
Crows have a highly developed language with which they emit numerous sounds. In this way, they can alert their companions when there is a threat, ask for something or simply show different emotions such as joy, tenderness, anger and surprise.
Likewise, they can imitate interesting sounds such as the howl of wolves, the barking of a dog or even human words.
And if this doesn’t seem enough to you, these fascinating creatures make gestures just like us. Crows are able to point out directions with their beak to allude to a particular fact. They also make a series of movements with their heads or beaks to communicate.
Crows can emit numerous sounds to express emotions and to communicate with each other. They can also imitate some words. Image via Tim Mossholder/ Pexels.
Crows collaborate with other animals
It seems that our feathered friends have a special friendship with wolves. Crows are really good at finding animal carcasses from the air, but they often find it difficult to open them with their beaks. So they start making noises to alert wolves about the prey they have discovered. Then the wolves use their jaws to make the food more accessible to the crows. Crows also sometimes make noises and circle over weak and sick animals to alert wolves of easy prey to kill.
And they also have something going on with the ants, although in this case it is not a collaboration. The crows launch themselves onto anthills, bite the ants to pieces and scatter their remains on their wings and legs. Why? It’s not clear. Some scientists think they use fluids present in the ants’ bodies as an insecticide and fungicide. If so, this is another example of their intelligence. These ant baths are known as “anting”.
One of the similarities with humans is that crows are omnivores. They feed on meat (especially carrion), reptiles, rodents, insects, fruits and cereals. Plus, they’ve been around a long time. Scientists think they appeared 17 million years ago in Central Asia and then spread to the rest of the world, except Antarctica. Crows live 10 to 15 years, but some have lived up to 40 years.
Crows are omnivores, so they feed on meat (especially carrion), insects, fruits and cereals. Sometimes, they collaborate with wolves to get their food. Image via Shrish Shrestha/ Unsplash.
Never fool a crow
It is true that crows show empathy and develop strong bonds between themselves and with other animals. They support each other and learn from mistakes together. But they never forget their enemies …
Crows do not tolerate cheaters. In an experiment in Sweden, one researcher gave a group of crows a piece of bread they could exchange with a second researcher for a larger piece of cheese. However, they decided to include a third person who, instead of handing them the cheese, put the piece in his mouth. After a couple of days, the birds chose to trade with the researcher who did not eat cheese. Even after a month had passed, the birds still did not trust the traitor.
Furthermore, when a crow dies, the others gather around the corpse, as if they were trying to learn about the causes of death. If there are humans wandering near their deceased companions, they consider them a threat.
And if a person has disturbed a crow and he comes back, a horde of birds will confront him. Crows recognize you and tell their friends about the incidents they have suffered, and then they tell their friends, too. Surely you don’t want to face a murder of crows.
But if what you want is a loyal friend to defend you, then look for a crow. These birds comfort victims after an act of aggression. This includes touching beaks or bodies, perching near the victim and grooming. Thus, crows are able to show empathy, understand the situation and then adjust their behavior toward the victim.
These birds have a strong sense of community, so they protect each other and remember when somebody has attacked them. Image via The Shotify/ Pexels.
What is a crow’s brain like?
If they are so intelligent, what does their brain look like? Well, they have a brain the size of a walnut, but in relation to their bodies, it’s really big (especially the front part, in charge of higher-order thinking).
One study suggests crows are so intelligent because of their high neuronal density and brain structure. Thus, crows solve complex problems, make and use tools, have great memory, communicate and learn from each other and may even have their own cultures. Amazing!
If you look for a trusted and loyal friend, crows are your best buddies. Image via Erik Karits/ Pexels.
Bottom line: Crows are some of the most intelligent animals in the world. They are also sociable birds that create their own gangs, show empathy and love to have fun. Just like us!
Crows get a bad rap. Many cultures associate them with death, bad omens and ghost stories. It probably doesn’t help that a group of crows is called a murder of crows. But crows are one of the most intelligent animals in the world. In addition, they are sociable birds that create their own gangs, show empathy, and love to have fun. Just like us!
Crows are extremely smart
There are 120 species of crows. They are one of the most intelligent birds, and also one of the smartest animals, in the world.
Crows are capable of creating tools from scratch and using them. And not only that, but they observe other crows and memorize their designs and then modify them. In this way, over time, they are able to improve the quality of their tools. Likewise, crows are cultural animals and transmit their knowledge to the next generation.
For example, people have observed crows making a kind of elongated hook with parts torn from plants. Thanks to this tool, they can extract larvae and other food that is otherwise inaccessible inside pieces of wood.
And this situation applies to more than just their natural and known environment. These are animals that have an impressive ability to adapt to different situations, even in our modern world. Crows throw nuts on the road so cars can run over and crack them. This undoubtedly demonstrates their ability to find solutions.
Crows are one of the most intelligent animals in the world. They create and use tools and adapt to many situations. Image via Mayukh Karmakar/ Pexels.
Experiments with crows
Obviously, this intelligence has caught the attention of scientists around the world. That’s why they’ve been tested through countless experiments.
In one of them, the researchers trained eight crows to put pieces of paper of different sizes into a vending machine that rewarded them based on the dimensions of the paper they placed in it. The crows only achieved their reward with paper of a particular size.
Once the crows recognized what size earned them a reward, they dedicated themselves to introducing only that size. And when they only had large pieces left, they began to tear them until they obtained the size they needed. This shows they can design and use tools from scratch to cut paper. In addition, they create mental schemes, have memory and can solve problems in an impressive way.
As these birds are so smart, scientists around the world have performed countless experiments with them. Image via Steve Smith/ Unsplash.
Experiments conducted by crows
Crows are sociable
Once they leave the nest, crows create groups with members of their own age to hang out, kind of like teenagers with their gangs. Plus, they love to have fun together. For example, people have seen crows sliding through snow on a roof over and over again just for fun. They also enjoy swinging or playing with humans and other animals.
Their fun and games demonstrate a degree of intelligence that we see in only a few animals in the world. Crows also recognize each other and themselves in mirrors. Thus, they are aware of their existence.
In addition, these birds have a great sense of community, since they also attend funerals to say goodbye to their dead. When one of the members of these gangs or groups dies, the entire group approaches the area and rests there for hours, fluttering and making loud sounds, like a sad moan.
Crows are sociable creatures and create groups with members of their own age when they leave their nests. Image via Qurratul Ayin Sadia/ Unsplash.
The communication of crows
Crows have a highly developed language with which they emit numerous sounds. In this way, they can alert their companions when there is a threat, ask for something or simply show different emotions such as joy, tenderness, anger and surprise.
Likewise, they can imitate interesting sounds such as the howl of wolves, the barking of a dog or even human words.
And if this doesn’t seem enough to you, these fascinating creatures make gestures just like us. Crows are able to point out directions with their beak to allude to a particular fact. They also make a series of movements with their heads or beaks to communicate.
Crows can emit numerous sounds to express emotions and to communicate with each other. They can also imitate some words. Image via Tim Mossholder/ Pexels.
Crows collaborate with other animals
It seems that our feathered friends have a special friendship with wolves. Crows are really good at finding animal carcasses from the air, but they often find it difficult to open them with their beaks. So they start making noises to alert wolves about the prey they have discovered. Then the wolves use their jaws to make the food more accessible to the crows. Crows also sometimes make noises and circle over weak and sick animals to alert wolves of easy prey to kill.
And they also have something going on with the ants, although in this case it is not a collaboration. The crows launch themselves onto anthills, bite the ants to pieces and scatter their remains on their wings and legs. Why? It’s not clear. Some scientists think they use fluids present in the ants’ bodies as an insecticide and fungicide. If so, this is another example of their intelligence. These ant baths are known as “anting”.
One of the similarities with humans is that crows are omnivores. They feed on meat (especially carrion), reptiles, rodents, insects, fruits and cereals. Plus, they’ve been around a long time. Scientists think they appeared 17 million years ago in Central Asia and then spread to the rest of the world, except Antarctica. Crows live 10 to 15 years, but some have lived up to 40 years.
Crows are omnivores, so they feed on meat (especially carrion), insects, fruits and cereals. Sometimes, they collaborate with wolves to get their food. Image via Shrish Shrestha/ Unsplash.
Never fool a crow
It is true that crows show empathy and develop strong bonds between themselves and with other animals. They support each other and learn from mistakes together. But they never forget their enemies …
Crows do not tolerate cheaters. In an experiment in Sweden, one researcher gave a group of crows a piece of bread they could exchange with a second researcher for a larger piece of cheese. However, they decided to include a third person who, instead of handing them the cheese, put the piece in his mouth. After a couple of days, the birds chose to trade with the researcher who did not eat cheese. Even after a month had passed, the birds still did not trust the traitor.
Furthermore, when a crow dies, the others gather around the corpse, as if they were trying to learn about the causes of death. If there are humans wandering near their deceased companions, they consider them a threat.
And if a person has disturbed a crow and he comes back, a horde of birds will confront him. Crows recognize you and tell their friends about the incidents they have suffered, and then they tell their friends, too. Surely you don’t want to face a murder of crows.
But if what you want is a loyal friend to defend you, then look for a crow. These birds comfort victims after an act of aggression. This includes touching beaks or bodies, perching near the victim and grooming. Thus, crows are able to show empathy, understand the situation and then adjust their behavior toward the victim.
These birds have a strong sense of community, so they protect each other and remember when somebody has attacked them. Image via The Shotify/ Pexels.
What is a crow’s brain like?
If they are so intelligent, what does their brain look like? Well, they have a brain the size of a walnut, but in relation to their bodies, it’s really big (especially the front part, in charge of higher-order thinking).
One study suggests crows are so intelligent because of their high neuronal density and brain structure. Thus, crows solve complex problems, make and use tools, have great memory, communicate and learn from each other and may even have their own cultures. Amazing!
If you look for a trusted and loyal friend, crows are your best buddies. Image via Erik Karits/ Pexels.
Bottom line: Crows are some of the most intelligent animals in the world. They are also sociable birds that create their own gangs, show empathy and love to have fun. Just like us!
Mexican jumping beans are seedpods containing moth larvae. When a larva jerks its body, the pod “jumps.” It is usually a reaction to environmental conditions like temperature and light.
Larvae respond differently to colors of light, jumping more forcefully under red light, which may signal dangerous heat conditions.
Damage to the seedpod impairs the larvae’s ability to jump effectively, possibly due to the disruption of internal silk attachments that help them move.
Meet the Mexican jumping bean
Mexican jumping beans, sometimes sold as toys in Mexico and the U.S., are not beans. They’re seedpods. And they can jump. But what makes them jump? Each seedpod has a tiny moth larva burrowed inside it. When the larva jerks its body, it bumps into the wall, causing the seedpod to move. Scientists at Binghamton University in New York said on October 8, 2024, that they found that certain colors of light can cause these larvae to produce more forceful jumps. They think it’s a cue for the larvae to move away from potentially harmful temperatures. They also found that if a larva’s seedpod home was damaged, its jumping was impaired.
The researchers published their findings on larvae sensitivity to light in the journal Behavioral Processes on August 30, 2024. They also published a study on how seedpod damage affects jumping in the Journal of Insect Behavior in August 2024.
Lindsey Swierk, a co-author from Binghamton University, said:
When a seed drops to the ground from shrubs, the moth larva inside is at the mercy of whatever environmental temperature the seed experiences. The ground could be scorching hot in direct sunlight. A little moth larva inside of a seed like this can only withstand so much heat, and so they jump away.
Jumping bean larvae response to light
Swierk and her students wanted to better understand how the larvae respond to their environmental conditions. The scientists wondered if the color of light could serve as a signal for larvae to take action to avoid extreme heat. So, they exposed jumping beans to different colors of light: red, purple, green and white.
The larvae responded to the light, despite the fact that less than 1% of light penetrated the seedpod wall. The researchers found that larvae moved more forcefully when exposed to red light, and least under purple light.
Swierk remarked:
Somehow larvae are picking up on these differences. Whether that’s because of very minute temperature changes or because of extremely sensitive photoreceptors, we’re not sure yet. But they’re using light somehow as a cue to change their behavior, which probably has to do with the fact that these different lighting spectra are correlated with different environmental conditions. Red and white light are more characteristic of daytime lighting, while green and purple light are associated with the light under forest canopies or sunset and sunrise.
Mexican jumping beans are really seedpods that host the larvae of the jumping bean moth. Image via Lindsey Swierk/ Binghamton University.
What happens if the seedpod is damaged?
If a seedpod is damaged, a larva can repair it by weaving silk threads across the opening. But how would it affect jumping? Swierk and her students ran experiments to see how the larvae would respond. They had one set of jumping beans with damaged walls that were repaired by the larvae. The second set of jumping beans were damaged but the larvae were not given enough time to make repairs. And there was a third control group of intact jumping beans.
The team found that both sets of damaged jumping beans were less likely to jump when subjected to high temperatures. But the set with intact jumping beans moved more effectively. Swierk suggested that it was the damaged seedpod, not the energy needed by a larva to repair the hole, that affected movement. Perhaps the damage disconnected silk threads that attached a larva to the inside wall of the seedpod. As a result, the larva was unable to make the seedpod move.
Mexican jumping bean with a hole. Here, the larva wove silk threads to cover up the hole. Image via Lindsey Swierk/ Binghamton University.
A finely-tuned response to the environment
Swierk commented further on the implications of this study:
These are animals that are extremely sensitive to temperature. A common story here is that we see these larvae using very nuanced cues to change their behavior in response to heat, and we’re also seeing that additional stressors like predation attempts can impair their ability to appropriately respond to temperature.
Responding to temperature change is a big deal. As the climate changes, we need to learn how animals detect imminent thermal stress and what limits their adaptive responses. What we learn about Mexican jumping bean larvae might help us better understand how other insects with limited movement cope with heat stress in their environments.
More about Mexican jumping beans
Mexican jumping beans are seedpods, about the size of a corn kernel, from a shrub called Sebastiania pavoniana. The larvae living inside the pods are the juvenile form of a small moth native to Mexico, the jumping bean moth (Cydia saltitans).
In spring, the moths lay eggs on the shrub’s immature seedpods. Tiny larvae hatch and burrow into the pods to feed on the seed. As the larva grows and feeds, the pod becomes more hollow. Each pod has three segments. When they ripen, the pods fall to the ground and separate into segments, some containing larvae. These pod segments are known as Mexican jumping beans.
But how does a “bean” jump? The larva inside it jerks its body to hit the inner wall, causing the bean to move.
Larvae live inside the seedpods for several months. If it survives, a larva will go through a pupal stage, to eventually emerge as a moth. But before entering that stage, the larva creates a trap door that will later allow the moth to exit the seedpod. After emerging in spring, the small silvery grey moth lives for just a few days, its purpose to repeat the life cycle.
Here’s a Mexican jumping bean along with a larva and moth. Image via Lindsey Swierk/ Binghamton University.
Bottom line: Mexican jumping bean larvae are sensitive to the color of light, jumping more forcefully under red light. Also, damage to the seedpod impairs jumping.
Mexican jumping beans are seedpods containing moth larvae. When a larva jerks its body, the pod “jumps.” It is usually a reaction to environmental conditions like temperature and light.
Larvae respond differently to colors of light, jumping more forcefully under red light, which may signal dangerous heat conditions.
Damage to the seedpod impairs the larvae’s ability to jump effectively, possibly due to the disruption of internal silk attachments that help them move.
Meet the Mexican jumping bean
Mexican jumping beans, sometimes sold as toys in Mexico and the U.S., are not beans. They’re seedpods. And they can jump. But what makes them jump? Each seedpod has a tiny moth larva burrowed inside it. When the larva jerks its body, it bumps into the wall, causing the seedpod to move. Scientists at Binghamton University in New York said on October 8, 2024, that they found that certain colors of light can cause these larvae to produce more forceful jumps. They think it’s a cue for the larvae to move away from potentially harmful temperatures. They also found that if a larva’s seedpod home was damaged, its jumping was impaired.
The researchers published their findings on larvae sensitivity to light in the journal Behavioral Processes on August 30, 2024. They also published a study on how seedpod damage affects jumping in the Journal of Insect Behavior in August 2024.
Lindsey Swierk, a co-author from Binghamton University, said:
When a seed drops to the ground from shrubs, the moth larva inside is at the mercy of whatever environmental temperature the seed experiences. The ground could be scorching hot in direct sunlight. A little moth larva inside of a seed like this can only withstand so much heat, and so they jump away.
Jumping bean larvae response to light
Swierk and her students wanted to better understand how the larvae respond to their environmental conditions. The scientists wondered if the color of light could serve as a signal for larvae to take action to avoid extreme heat. So, they exposed jumping beans to different colors of light: red, purple, green and white.
The larvae responded to the light, despite the fact that less than 1% of light penetrated the seedpod wall. The researchers found that larvae moved more forcefully when exposed to red light, and least under purple light.
Swierk remarked:
Somehow larvae are picking up on these differences. Whether that’s because of very minute temperature changes or because of extremely sensitive photoreceptors, we’re not sure yet. But they’re using light somehow as a cue to change their behavior, which probably has to do with the fact that these different lighting spectra are correlated with different environmental conditions. Red and white light are more characteristic of daytime lighting, while green and purple light are associated with the light under forest canopies or sunset and sunrise.
Mexican jumping beans are really seedpods that host the larvae of the jumping bean moth. Image via Lindsey Swierk/ Binghamton University.
What happens if the seedpod is damaged?
If a seedpod is damaged, a larva can repair it by weaving silk threads across the opening. But how would it affect jumping? Swierk and her students ran experiments to see how the larvae would respond. They had one set of jumping beans with damaged walls that were repaired by the larvae. The second set of jumping beans were damaged but the larvae were not given enough time to make repairs. And there was a third control group of intact jumping beans.
The team found that both sets of damaged jumping beans were less likely to jump when subjected to high temperatures. But the set with intact jumping beans moved more effectively. Swierk suggested that it was the damaged seedpod, not the energy needed by a larva to repair the hole, that affected movement. Perhaps the damage disconnected silk threads that attached a larva to the inside wall of the seedpod. As a result, the larva was unable to make the seedpod move.
Mexican jumping bean with a hole. Here, the larva wove silk threads to cover up the hole. Image via Lindsey Swierk/ Binghamton University.
A finely-tuned response to the environment
Swierk commented further on the implications of this study:
These are animals that are extremely sensitive to temperature. A common story here is that we see these larvae using very nuanced cues to change their behavior in response to heat, and we’re also seeing that additional stressors like predation attempts can impair their ability to appropriately respond to temperature.
Responding to temperature change is a big deal. As the climate changes, we need to learn how animals detect imminent thermal stress and what limits their adaptive responses. What we learn about Mexican jumping bean larvae might help us better understand how other insects with limited movement cope with heat stress in their environments.
More about Mexican jumping beans
Mexican jumping beans are seedpods, about the size of a corn kernel, from a shrub called Sebastiania pavoniana. The larvae living inside the pods are the juvenile form of a small moth native to Mexico, the jumping bean moth (Cydia saltitans).
In spring, the moths lay eggs on the shrub’s immature seedpods. Tiny larvae hatch and burrow into the pods to feed on the seed. As the larva grows and feeds, the pod becomes more hollow. Each pod has three segments. When they ripen, the pods fall to the ground and separate into segments, some containing larvae. These pod segments are known as Mexican jumping beans.
But how does a “bean” jump? The larva inside it jerks its body to hit the inner wall, causing the bean to move.
Larvae live inside the seedpods for several months. If it survives, a larva will go through a pupal stage, to eventually emerge as a moth. But before entering that stage, the larva creates a trap door that will later allow the moth to exit the seedpod. After emerging in spring, the small silvery grey moth lives for just a few days, its purpose to repeat the life cycle.
Here’s a Mexican jumping bean along with a larva and moth. Image via Lindsey Swierk/ Binghamton University.
Bottom line: Mexican jumping bean larvae are sensitive to the color of light, jumping more forcefully under red light. Also, damage to the seedpod impairs jumping.
View larger. | Gullies in Terra Sirenum on Mars. Scientists say the white patches are dusty water ice. These kinds of ice deposits could have pools of liquid water underneath them. Enough sunlight could filter through the ice to support possible photosynthetic microbial life on Mars. Image via NASA/ JPL-Caltech/ University of Arizona.
Is there life on Mars? We still don’t know for sure.
Microbial life could exist below dusty ice deposits, a new study from NASA said.
Pools of liquid water below the ice and sunlight passing through the translucent ice could support photosynthesis and microbial life, similar to what happens on Earth.
Microbial life on Mars?
We don’t know for sure if Mars ever had – or even still has – any kind of life. The surface of Mars today is hostile for any form of life, even microbes. Some scientists say microbes could possibly be found underground, where they would be more protected from the harsh conditions on the surface. Now there’s another idea. A new NASA study suggested that beneath ice deposits would be a good place to look for life. The researchers said on October 17, 2024, that meltwater underneath dusty ice could be an ideal home for microbes. There would also still be enough sunlight passing through the translucent ice for photosynthesis to occur.
The researchers published their peer-reviewed findings in Communications Earth & Environment (Nature) on October 17, 2024.
Could water ice on the Martian surface hide microscopic life below?
Water is essential for life on Earth. So it makes sense to “follow the water” on Mars as well. The problem is that water can’t remain on the surface due to the extreme cold and thin atmosphere. At most, there are small amounts of temporary salty brines in the soil. There may be liquid water much deeper down in the crust, but too deep for rovers or future astronauts to reach.
But there’s another possibility. On Earth, pools of meltwater can exist beneath layers of ice (or on top, since the atmosphere is much thicker). The same could be true for Mars as well. There are plenty of ice deposits, especially at the poles. Dusty ice in particular would be ideal for such meltwater to exist.
Using computer modeling, the researchers found that for some surface ice deposits on Mars, enough sunlight could filter through the translucent ice to support photosynthesis. There should also be some meltwater beneath the ice, similar to Earth.
Lead author Aditya Khuller, at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Cañada Flintridge, California, said:
If we’re trying to find life anywhere in the universe today, Martian ice exposures are probably one of the most accessible places we should be looking.
According to the new study, ice deposits with some dust mixed in would be ideal. The darker dust would absorb more sunlight, helping ice at the bottom of the deposits to melt. This same process happens on Earth as well. On the surface, ice will sublimate directly into gas in the cold, thin atmosphere. But below a layer of ice, it can become liquid.
How does this happen on Earth? As co-author Phil Christensen at Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona, noted:
This is a common phenomenon on Earth. Dense snow and ice can melt from the inside out, letting in sunlight that warms it like a greenhouse, rather than melting from the top down.
In earthly ice deposits, particles of dust – known as cryoconite – can create holes in ice, called cryoconite holes. The dust particles melt the ice where they land. The holes gets a bit deeper each summer when it’s warmer. When the particles eventually stop sinking into the ice, they form pools of meltwater around them. And indeed, those small pools become thriving ecosystems.
The most likely locations for such dusty ice deposits would be in the Martian “tropics,” between 30 degrees and 60 degrees latitude, in both the northern and southern hemispheres.
In addition, the study found enough sunlight could pass through the ice to support photosynthesis as deep as 9 feet (3 meters). Not only would the overlaying ice help keep the water pools liquid, it would also protect any organisms from the deadly radiation on the surface.
With both liquid water and photosynthesis being theoretically possible, these Martian ice deposits would be a good place to search for evidence of current, or past, microbial life.
Other possible Martian water
Last August, scientists said there is now evidence for an ocean’s worth of liquid water deep underground in the Martian crust. The water would be 7 to 13 miles (11 to 20 km) below the surface. This is deep enough that, according to the study, temperatures could keep the water liquid. No ice cover needed. But that also means it is inaccessible for study by any rovers or even future astronauts in the foreseeable future.
There is also the tentative discovery of lakes of water beneath the south polar ice cap. That has been a subject of ongoing debate, however.
Bottom line: A new NASA study said microbial life on Mars could exist in pools of liquid water beneath dusty ice deposits, with enough sunlight for photosynthesis.
View larger. | Gullies in Terra Sirenum on Mars. Scientists say the white patches are dusty water ice. These kinds of ice deposits could have pools of liquid water underneath them. Enough sunlight could filter through the ice to support possible photosynthetic microbial life on Mars. Image via NASA/ JPL-Caltech/ University of Arizona.
Is there life on Mars? We still don’t know for sure.
Microbial life could exist below dusty ice deposits, a new study from NASA said.
Pools of liquid water below the ice and sunlight passing through the translucent ice could support photosynthesis and microbial life, similar to what happens on Earth.
Microbial life on Mars?
We don’t know for sure if Mars ever had – or even still has – any kind of life. The surface of Mars today is hostile for any form of life, even microbes. Some scientists say microbes could possibly be found underground, where they would be more protected from the harsh conditions on the surface. Now there’s another idea. A new NASA study suggested that beneath ice deposits would be a good place to look for life. The researchers said on October 17, 2024, that meltwater underneath dusty ice could be an ideal home for microbes. There would also still be enough sunlight passing through the translucent ice for photosynthesis to occur.
The researchers published their peer-reviewed findings in Communications Earth & Environment (Nature) on October 17, 2024.
Could water ice on the Martian surface hide microscopic life below?
Water is essential for life on Earth. So it makes sense to “follow the water” on Mars as well. The problem is that water can’t remain on the surface due to the extreme cold and thin atmosphere. At most, there are small amounts of temporary salty brines in the soil. There may be liquid water much deeper down in the crust, but too deep for rovers or future astronauts to reach.
But there’s another possibility. On Earth, pools of meltwater can exist beneath layers of ice (or on top, since the atmosphere is much thicker). The same could be true for Mars as well. There are plenty of ice deposits, especially at the poles. Dusty ice in particular would be ideal for such meltwater to exist.
Using computer modeling, the researchers found that for some surface ice deposits on Mars, enough sunlight could filter through the translucent ice to support photosynthesis. There should also be some meltwater beneath the ice, similar to Earth.
Lead author Aditya Khuller, at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Cañada Flintridge, California, said:
If we’re trying to find life anywhere in the universe today, Martian ice exposures are probably one of the most accessible places we should be looking.
According to the new study, ice deposits with some dust mixed in would be ideal. The darker dust would absorb more sunlight, helping ice at the bottom of the deposits to melt. This same process happens on Earth as well. On the surface, ice will sublimate directly into gas in the cold, thin atmosphere. But below a layer of ice, it can become liquid.
How does this happen on Earth? As co-author Phil Christensen at Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona, noted:
This is a common phenomenon on Earth. Dense snow and ice can melt from the inside out, letting in sunlight that warms it like a greenhouse, rather than melting from the top down.
In earthly ice deposits, particles of dust – known as cryoconite – can create holes in ice, called cryoconite holes. The dust particles melt the ice where they land. The holes gets a bit deeper each summer when it’s warmer. When the particles eventually stop sinking into the ice, they form pools of meltwater around them. And indeed, those small pools become thriving ecosystems.
The most likely locations for such dusty ice deposits would be in the Martian “tropics,” between 30 degrees and 60 degrees latitude, in both the northern and southern hemispheres.
In addition, the study found enough sunlight could pass through the ice to support photosynthesis as deep as 9 feet (3 meters). Not only would the overlaying ice help keep the water pools liquid, it would also protect any organisms from the deadly radiation on the surface.
With both liquid water and photosynthesis being theoretically possible, these Martian ice deposits would be a good place to search for evidence of current, or past, microbial life.
Other possible Martian water
Last August, scientists said there is now evidence for an ocean’s worth of liquid water deep underground in the Martian crust. The water would be 7 to 13 miles (11 to 20 km) below the surface. This is deep enough that, according to the study, temperatures could keep the water liquid. No ice cover needed. But that also means it is inaccessible for study by any rovers or even future astronauts in the foreseeable future.
There is also the tentative discovery of lakes of water beneath the south polar ice cap. That has been a subject of ongoing debate, however.
Bottom line: A new NASA study said microbial life on Mars could exist in pools of liquid water beneath dusty ice deposits, with enough sunlight for photosynthesis.
