Mars hit by about 5 times more meteorites than previously thought
A study jointly conducted by ETH Zurich in Switzerland and Imperial College London in the UK has determined that Mars has been hit by approximately 5 times more meteorites than previously calculated.
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According to a report by Science Daily, the study, which utilized data from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) InSight seismic lander on Mars, calculated that 280-360 meteorites creating craters larger than 8 meters strike Mars every year.
Researchers, who determined that the meteorites exhibit seismic activity of approximately magnitude 3 but last much shorter than earthquakes on Mars, revealed that 80 events previously categorized as earthquakes were actually caused by meteorite impacts.
The data obtained by the researchers showed that at least one 8-meter crater is formed on the Martian surface every day, and at least one 30-meter crater is formed every month.
Geraldine Zenhausern, one of the authors of the study, stated that this number is approximately 5 times higher than the figure reached in examinations conducted after imaging the orbit via tomography scans.
Researcher Natalia Wojcicka explained that the InSight research team found the seismic activities with the help of the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter's (MRO) camera, and calculated the size of the crater formed by the meteorite based on the intensity and distance of the activity.
Noting that they used this data to calculate the craters formed around the InSight lander in one year, Wojcicka stated that they reached the average number of meteorites falling on the Martian surface in a year based on this result.
The research was published in the journal "Nature".