Space/Science — HabitableZone

Space/Science » in reply to Freakin' common sense...

re: Freakin' common sense...
gbaikie — (archived)

"Work out the energy input from the Solar Wind for yourself. That and the fact that every paper on atmospheric erosion from Mars is talking about the first billion years of solar history when the Wind was so much stronger. It decayed away pretty much exponentially as the Sun's activity declined."

What is reference for first billion years having high levels of Solar Wind?

Solar wind at earth distance:
"Average values for solar wind velocity, density, and magnetic field strength at the orbit of the Earth are 468 km per second; density, 8.7 protons per cubic centimeter, and 6.6 nT, respectively. "
http://pluto.space.swri.edu/image/glossary/solar_wind.html

So say at Mars they are somewhere around 8 protons per cubic cm and about 460 km/sec??

And since there are 100,000 cm per km, you have 46 million cm per second times 8 would be how many protons per sq cm and then determine the amount sq cm [of the entire surface of mars or just the cross section of the atmosphere?
Or maybe just per sq meter:
Per meter, it's 3.6 x 10^13 protons at velocity of 460,000 m/s.
Now the amount protons per kg:
"1.67262E-27 proton mass in kg"
http://www.geocities.com/riturajkalita/References/Const_Values.TXT

So, around 6 x 10 -^14 kg- and that makes it about 1/200th of a joule per sq meter.

This gives you an idea of the amount of energy involved.

And:

"Mars once had a denser atmosphere that supported the presence of liquid water on the surface. As part of a dramatic climate change, most of the Martian atmosphere was lost. MAVEN will make definitive scientific measurements of present-day atmospheric loss that will offer clues about the planet's history.

"The loss of Mars' atmosphere has been an ongoing mystery," McCuistion said. "MAVEN will help us solve it." "
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/mars/news/maven_20080915.html

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