Planetary Science
¨ Why is Mars red?
¨ Can I find treasure with the GRS?
¨ What is the correct way to give coordinates on Mars?
¨ Is Pluto a planet?
¨ Jane Luu's discovery of the Kuiper Belt
¨ What causes the dark spots on Mars to change with the seasons?
¨ What type of schooling must
you have to become a planetary geologist?
¨ Time till results return for rocks sent to Schoolhouse Rocks
program
¨ Are results from
the Schoolhouse Rocks program released yet?
¨ How does hematite prove that water was once
on Mars?
¨ My rock is too large to send to the
Schoolhouse Rocks project
¨ Will you return rocks sent to the
Schoolhouse Rocks geology project?
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QUESTION:
Why is Mars red?
ANSWER from Roger Herzler
on 1 October 2005:
That is due to iron oxide, which is also called rust. The Martian soil
has a high iron content and that has rusted over the years to produce the oranges
and reds that are so prominent on its surface. Of course, this iron oxide
had to form and that is good evidence that Mars probably had at least water
vapor in its atmosphere.
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QUESTION:
Can I find a treasure with the GRS?
ANSWER from Michelle Mock
on 28 September 2005:
If you are a scientist and you are talking about the the Gamma Ray Spectrometer
aboard the Mars Odyssey spacecraft, the answer is: ABSOLUTELY!
The GRS has detected a wealth of information! According
to the instrument
website, "Mars is richer in volatiles, which is indirect
evidence for the planet having had lots of water in the past."
Michelle Mock
Imagiverse Educational Consortium
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QUESTION:
Looking at different maps of Mars I noticed that some have the longitude increasing
towards the West and on others it increases towards the East. What
is the correct way to give the coordinates of a point on Mars?
ANSWER from Stephanie
Wong on 27 September 2005:
The "prime meridian" of Mars runs through the middle of the small
crater Airy-0, which is located in the larger crater Airy. Traditonally,
the longitudes were numbered to the East (0° to 360°W), the coordinates
being based on the "planetographic" system. These coordinates
were in reference to the surface of the planet. More recently, it has
been the trend to use a "planetocentric" (with reference to the center
of the planet) system with coordinates going east. Both systems are approved
by the International Astronomical Union. But, any Mars map created since
2002 will probably been planetocentric going east.
http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Mars_Express/SEM0VQV4QWD_0.html
http://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/TOCmarsmain.html
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QUESTION:
Is Pluto a planet?
ANSWER from Stephanie
Wong on 25 May 2005:
Whether a celestial object is a planet is a question of preference. Roughly-speaking,
a planet is a few thousands of kilometres in diameter, with enough gravity
to make it spherical, orbiting a star, but not large enough to have its own
nuclear reactions. The planets of the solar system are believed to have
formed where they are today, accreting from the materials in that part of the
solar system. Pluto, however, has features that indicate it is part of
the Kuiper Belt, objects in our solar system that orbit in an area that extends
out from Neptune. These are generally icy bodies that are a source for
comets. The differing features of these from planets is that they are
usually small and have eccentric orbits. In earlier times, these Kuiper
Belt objects were too small and far away to be seen. The large bodies
that we could see, we called planets. The ones in the inner solar system
are rocky and not too big. The ones farther away are gas giants, very large
and made largely of hydrogen and helium gas. Pluto was the last of the
9 planets to be discovered. Being a tiny body of rock and ice, it certainly
does not fit the characteristics that the other outer planets have. But,
seeing that it was the "next" body out from Neptune, it was natural
at the time to designate it a planet. Since then, however, we have begun
to find other objects of similar size and make-up to Pluto, and that they are
part of this new class called Kuiper Belt Objects. If these comet-like
bodies are similar to Pluto, then one might beg the question why not call them
planets as well? So, the debate of whether Pluto is a planet is born. If
we keep calling it a planet, then it and possibly many other yet-to-be found
bodies could be called planets. If we do not call it a planet, and just
a big Kuiper Belt object, then our traditional notion of 9 planets is gone. Since
we do not have a definite definition of a planet, it is a question of preference. There
have been attempts by people to create black-and-white criteria for something
to be called a planet, but again, that means we will arbitrarily choose sides. It
is like saying whether a piece of rock is a piece of sand or a pebble. Believe
it or not, Pluto is now firmly established as a Kuiper Belt object, and it
doesn't look like people are ever going to "dethrone" it as the 9th
planet anytime soon.
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QUESTION:
Hello Dr. Luu. I am in 8th grade at the Jefferson Middle School in Wisconsin. We
are studying you and what you discovered. Can you tell me what you discovered?
ANSWER from Bonnie Walters
on 9 September 2004:
I have portrayed Dr. Luu for two years through our school's Women in History
program. I also met and interviewed her for Imagiverse. She is
a fascinating person to study and I'm glad your class is doing so.
Dr. Luu discovered the first Kuiper Belt
Object (KBOs) with her colleague, David Jewitt, in 1992. She
was very, very excited to make this discovery. They had searched
for 5 years! Think of it... 5 years with no results to show. It
took incredible patience and perserverence to keep on looking. People
came up to them saying, "There's nothing out there, you're nuts
to keep looking." Since then, at least 500 KBOs have been
found.
Here are some links for information on
the Kuiper Belt. The first is David Jewitt's Kuiper Belt page:
http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu/faculty/jewitt/kb.html
NASA's Solar System Exploration Page will
give you more information and resources:
http://sse.jpl.nasa.gov/planets/profile.cfm?Object=KBOs
Finally, I always use Bill Arnett's, The
Nine Planets for starting out any research:
http://www.nineplanets.org/
OK, for Dr. Luu's information, of course
you can use our interview at Imagiverse:
http://www.imagiverse.org/interviews/janeluu/jane_luu_21_03_03.htm
Here's a link from an online enclyclopedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Luu/
This is a referral to her in a Science
Fair Project Bank:
http://www.all-science-fair-projects.com/science_fair_projects_encyclopedia/Jane_Luu/
Good luck on your research!
Bonnie J. Walters
NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador
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QUESTION:
What causes the dark spots on Mars
and what causes the dark spots to change with the seasons?
ANSWER from Stephanie
Wong on 11 July 2004:
Mars has high winds that often cause
vast amounts of dust to be picked up into the air. These dust
storms can grow to continental sizes that sweep over the entire planet. Therefore,
surface features as seen from a telescope can vary widely within a
matter of weeks (or days!). Depending on the season, dust storms
may become more frequent, and thus there might be some "spots" that
may seem more prevalent at a given time of year.
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QUESTION:
What type of schooling must you
have to become a planetary geologist? Do you need to have a certain
degree, and how long would it take to receive the degree?
ANSWER from Chris Herd
on 23 June 2004:
I recommend starting with a Bachelor of Science degree in geology. Even
though most universities, especially in Canada, do not offer planetary geology
courses in their geology programs, the way we understand the geology of other
planets is by first understanding our own. So the more geology of different
types that you are exposed to (igneous, sedimentary, metamorphic, groundwater,
glacial, mineralogy, etc.), the better.
Once you get a B.Sc. (which takes about
4 years), then it's time to find a university that offers a graduate
program in planetary geology. This would involve a Masters
of Science (M.Sc.), which typically takes 2 to 3 years.
At this point you will probably know what
kind of geology you like best, and so you want to look for ways to
do that kind of geology on other planets - volcanoes on Mars, for
example. You will have to apply to the programs, and find out
what different profs are working on, because you will have to do
a research project for the Masters. You should ask yourself,
Do I want to work on data from missions? Or do I want to work
on rocks (meteorites)? This will help you decide what schools
to apply to.
After the M.Sc., then you will have to
decide whether you want to get a Ph.D. This involves a project
that is bigger in scope than the M.Sc., and so takes longer - typically
4 years. Whether you do a Ph.D. depends on what you want to
do: a Ph.D. means you are a Dr. of planetary geology, so you could
get a job as a university professor (teaching and doing research),
or as a government scientist (doing research) for NASA, for example. A
Masters wouldn't allow you to work as a prof, but more jobs might
be open to you, whether it's in government or one of the up-and-coming
space companies.
So by the time you get a Ph.D., you might
have been in school for ten years after high school. But if
you ask me, it's worth it.
Chris Herd
Assistant Professor of Mineralogy
Department of Earth & Atmospheric Sciences
University of Alberta, Canada
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QUESTION:
We sent a rock in several weeks ago and we were wondering approximately how long
it takes before it shows up on the web page and how long it will take to
get the certificate in the mail.
ANSWER from Michelle Mock
on 6 March 2004:
I just came back from an Mars Educator Workshop at Arizona State University
and this subject came up. The Schoolhouse Rocks project has received
some 2,500 rocks from around the world and more are coming every day. They
are working as quickly as they can to analyze rocks and post the information
on the web, so it is hard to estimate a time-frame for you. Keep checking:
http://marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov/rockworld/
They are posting a variety of different
rocks from different places around the world. You might see
something similar to your rock in the meantime. While you wait,
you could try to make some predictions about how your rock's spectra
will compare with other similar rocks.
Phil has been signing all the certificates
himself so try to be patient. Phil and all the other Mars scientists
are getting very little sleep lately, trying to keep up with all
the fascinating discoveries of the two rovers. It is an exciting
and very busy time for all of them!
When you get information about your rock,
please write back to Imagiverse and share what you learned! We
want to know!
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QUESTION:
I realize the Schoolhouse Rocks program most likely is
inundated with enormous piles of rocks as children (including
my own) are sending treasures from all over the world.
For my students who are
participating in this program, the big question is how
soon will information be posted on the web and or how
soon are we likely to hear back regarding the composition
of our non-Mars rocks. Maybe an update could be
added to the JPL site describing this program so this
question could be answered for all the kids and classes
that are participating.
As we patiently wait, keep
up your excellent work of inspiring the next generation
of planetary scientists.
ANSWER
from Michelle Mock on 20 February 2004:
It is great to hear that your students are participating
in the Schoolhouse Rocks project! Samples from
around the world have already begun to be posted at:
http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/classroom/schoolhouse/rocksubmission.html
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QUESTION:
On the matter of grey hematite or the coarse-grained hematite,
found on Mars, how does this prove that there once was
water on the planet? Hematite is a iron oxide
mineral usally found near bodies of water on Earth.
However, the strong depletion of iron on Mars coupled
with the place it was discovered (close to one of the
poles) suggests that the cold frozen CO2 could
have enriched the iron with oxygen, release the frozen CO2
into the atmosphere and the bombardment of nitrogen could
have created these rocks.
ANSWER
from Michelle Mock on 28 January 2004:
The grey hematite on Mars is located in Terra Meridiani,
on the equator of Mars (very close to 0 latitude and 0
longitude). It was not discovered near the poles.
The existence of hematite in this area does not in itself
prove that there was water on Mars. However, since
the time that hematite was first discovered (with the
Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft's TES instrument), the
Odyssey spacecraft has found clear evidence of water ice
on the planet. See: http://imagiverse.org/resources/exploration/missions/odyssey/odyssey.htm
On Earth, grey hematite is
formed in water. Using that as an analog for Mars,
scientists believe that hematite on Mars must have also
formed in long standing water. That is what they
hope to confirm.
The rover opportunity has
now landed at the site where the hematite was discovered
from orbit. Scientists are very excited about this
because now they are at a place where they will be able
to find out a lot more and test some of their hypotheses.
At Meridiani Planum in Terra Meridiani, Opportunity has
already found some
incredible things
that have never been seen before on Mars. The
surface is almost devoid of rocks and the soil is unlike
anything previously seen on Mars at previous landing
sites. There are layered rocks close to where the
rover has landed and those layered rocks will be
investigated as soon as the rover rolls off the landing
platform.
So much science is
happening at Mars, I cannot give you a more precise
answer to your question. Follow the rovers as they
investigate Mars through updates at http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/ . Check out the press
briefings on NASA TV (http://www.nasa.gov/). I am sure there will be
all kinds of new and exciting information coming at us
over the next several months.
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QUESTION:
I have a rock for you to analyze at the Schoolhouse Rocks
program but it is larger than 6". How can I
break it to send you a smaller piece? When I throw
it at the ground it just chips.
ANSWER
from Michelle Mock on 17 January 2004:
We asked Sheri Klug from ASU Mars K-12 Education Outreach
and she told us that larger rocks can be sent to the
Schoolhouse Rocks program at the sender's expense, or you
can choose a smaller rock. Neither Sheri nor
Imagiverse suggest you try to break rocks on your own.
Please don't throw rocks on the ground or attempt to
break them if you do not have the training to do so.
You are risking injury to yourself and others and we
don't want to see anyone get hurt!
If you have a college or
university nearby, you may be able to find a geologist
who is willing to break your rock for you. If you
do, you might want to write down what the geologist tells
you about the rock and then compare that information with
the analysis you get back from ASU.
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QUESTION:
I found a rock several years ago that fascinated me.
This stone is extremely dense, non magnetic, and has what
looks like the remains of a molten crust on it's surface.
When I look at it, I think,"Mars!" I'd
hate to part with this unique stone, but I'm very curious
as to its composition. If I send the stone to Dr.
Phil Christensen at the Mars Space Flight Facility of
Arizona State University, would it be possible for the
stone to be returned after analysis?
ANSWER
from Sheri Klug on 16 January 2004:
Thank you for your interest. I would suggest, in
your case, that you take your rock specimen to a
university near you for examination. You could
contact the geology department within the university to
find out who would be the appropriate contact. The
Schoolhouse Rocks program is not set up to return special
samples.
Sheri Klug
Director
ASU Mars Education Program
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