National Geographic News, Reporting Your World Daily

Monday, November 23, 2009

Photo: Mars's Liquid Center Cooling in Unusual Manner, Study Suggests


Email to a Friend	<< Back to Full Story

Mars' core, as depicted in the artist's rendering above, is probably liquid, according to a new study.

The research team used a device called a high-pressure anvil to squeeze iron, nickel, and sulfur—common elements in the Martian core—to estimate the core's consistency and predict how it will solidify.

Image courtesy NASA