Scientists are studying data from two large meteorite impacts on Mars, hoping that it will give us a better understanding of how the red planet was formed.
The space rocks crashed into the Martian surface at different times in the latter half of 2021, resulting in two large craters upwards of 130 metres in diameter.
Nasa’s InSight lander, which touched down on Mars in 2018, recorded the vibrations caused by both impacts.
These vibrations, or seismic surface waves, gave scientists an insight into the structure of the Martian crust, which may hold important clues about the origin and evolution of the planet.
‘This is the first time seismic surface waves have been observed on a planet other than Earth,’ said Doyeon Kim, a geophysicist and senior research scientist at ETH Zurich’s Institute of Geophysics.