The atmosphere of Mars is less than 1% of the earth's atmosphere. Why are there clouds on it?

When we look up at the sky during the day, we always see white clouds. The earth's atmosphere is wonderful, its thickness is enough to extend to 600 thousand kilometers away, and even the moon is hard to get rid of. It is precisely because of the existence of the atmosphere that the earth can avoid high-intensity cosmic rays and the surface can maintain a temperature suitable for life. The oxygen needed for living things also comes from the atmosphere.

In fact, not all planets are as lucky as the earth, such as the moon and Mars. They were once listed as the targets of future space immigrants, but they have to be reconsidered because of the lack of a stable atmosphere. Especially Mars, its atmospheric volume is less than 1% of that of the earth. Scientists believe that cracking the formation of Martian clouds may help us understand the evolution of the Martian atmosphere.

Some scientists say that the formation of Mars clouds is inseparable from the participation of meteors. Before that, many scientists thought that the atmosphere of Mars was not as thin as it is now, and the formation and preservation of liquid water on the surface of Mars could not be separated from the protection of the atmosphere. Just because of special reasons, the atmosphere of Mars slowly disappeared, which became the scene we saw.

Although the Martian atmosphere is only the tip of the iceberg of the earth, scientists believe that it also plays an important role in the climate environment on the surface of Mars, and the Martian cloud in the middle layer of the Martian atmosphere is the key.

The formation of clouds on the earth requires condensation nuclei. Countless small water droplets floating in the air form white clouds under the action of condensation nuclei, and tiny dust particles can interact with them to form clouds.

About 3 tons of dust enters the atmosphere of Mars every day, and these substances can also act as condensation nuclei, and these dust just come from meteors. The upper atmosphere of Mars has this unique condition. When dust is stripped from meteors, they will recombine and become important condensation nuclei, thus producing Mars clouds.

Due to the lack of a large amount of liquid water on the surface of Mars, even if there are a large number of condensed nuclei, thick clouds can not be formed smoothly, and Mars has lost a good circulation process. However, the researchers said that about 3 tons of meteor dust also played an important role, which weakened the Hadley circulation circle of Mars and profoundly affected the climate of Mars.

It is speculated that Mars once had good atmospheric conditions, and life may have appeared in the corresponding period. With the drastic changes in the environment, Mars has become the present scene.

One day in the future, humans will also land on this red planet. For the smooth development of related research, we will collect more data. Understanding the evolution of the Martian atmosphere will also help us to judge whether there is life on Mars. Everything is subtly connected, and the universe is so magical.