At a meeting earlier this year , some experts took some time out of their schedules to have an intriguing discussion – what if Mars and Venus swapped places ?
The interrogative was elevate at theComparative Climatology of Terrestrial Planets IIImeeting at the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston , Texas in August . Here researcher were discussing the environs of rough earth in our Solar System and beyond .
But according to NASA , a thought experiment about switching our two neighboring planets was also discussed . Of course , it was just a bit of fun – as far as we recognise we have n’t devise a major planet - go auto yet – but there was some interesting science to come out of it .
Mars has a mass of one - tenth that of Earth , whereas Venus has a evenhandedly similar mass . The former orbits within the current habitable zone of the Sun , while the latter orbits slimly within the internal bound . Of course , neither look inhabitable now – Mars has an average surface temperature of -60 ° C ( -80 ° F ) , with temperatures reaching 460 ° C ( 860 ° F)on Venusowing to its thick atmosphere . So what if we switched them ?
“ Modern Mars at Venus ’s orbit would be passably toasty by Earth standard , ” said Chris Colose , a clime scientist base at the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies , write Elizabeth Tasker for NASA .
Mars today has a sparse atmospheric state , blare away by the Sun when it lost its magnetised field for unidentified reasons . Were we to move Mars to Venus ’ electron orbit today , it ’s unlikely the temperature would be high enough to expel enough carbon paper dioxide trapped on the major planet to thicken the atmosphere much .
Even if it could be inspissate , without a magnetic field Mars could n’t cling onto its standard pressure , meaning the chances of liquid piddle existing would be slim . “ I suspect it would just be a warm rock , ” said Colose .
As for Venus , interestingly its temperature does n’t rely on the Sun that much ; move it to the orbit of Mars , and it would still remain largely similar as its atmosphere is in counterbalance . Over a prospicient time , however , it might be that the planet starts to cool . Otherwise , the only option is to take it beyond the orbit of Mars .
“ It seems that plainly swap the cranial orbit of the current Venus and Mars would not produce a second habitable worldly concern , ” write Tasker . But had Venus earlier formed in the locating of Mars , a planet of that size may have fared well at holding onto its standard pressure .
