A Nepali first to spot 'water' in Mars

It is always great to hear an international news about a Nepali person. And this time, since personally, I'm very much interested in physics and particularly in astronomy, this particular news caught my attention and made me a proud Nepali!

            Lujendra Ojha, a native of Kathmandu, has become the first person to spot something unusual, which scientists believe is liquid water, in Martian surface. And since scientists have long been searching for some kind of life, this discovery could be one of the greatest discoveries if they could actually find 'life' there. So, it is history in the making for this small country, which barely gets attention of the world in the field of science.

             In high school, Lujendra Ojha hoped he might one day invent a time machine. A science-fiction fan, he was fascinated with the ideas about 'string theory' (in short, this theory suggests that every particle including elementary particles like electron and quarks are made from 'strings'), multiple universes and time travel.

        Ojha hasn't cracked those mysteries yet, but he did discover 'water' - as he and other scientists in the probe believe - on the surface of the red planet. The 21-year-old is a co-author of a new study in the journal Science suggesting that there is liquid water during warmer seasons on Mars. If it's there, this water probably would be briny, because studies have shown that Mars' surface is salt. Ojha has always been fascinated by mountains, especially since several of the world's tallest are in Nepal. He combined his interest in physics and geology by majoring in geosciences at the University of Arizona. Professor Alfred McEwen of the University of Arizona is the lead author of the journal published in Science. And Lujendra Ojha is one of the scientists under his leadership. Colin Dundas, a researcher in University of Arizona and their collaborator, was interested in gullies on Mars, which may be remnants of past water activity. The researchers were looking for seasonal changes in those gullies.

Ojha and his colleagues were analyzing photographs taken by Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Those pictures show 'dark, finger like projections that appear and extend down some Martian slopes during late spring through early summer' as NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) describes it.

'I was baffled when I saw those features. We soon realized they were different from slope streaks that have been observed before. These were highly seasonal and we observed some of them had grown by more than 200 meters in a matter of just two Earth months.' Ojha said.

           'A mystery now, but a solvable mystery,' professor McEwen said. 'The best explanation we have for these observations so far is a flow of briny water, although this study does not prove that.'

         The puzzling markings, which appear on several steep slopes south of the Martian equator, fade in the winter and reappear in the spring, While water may not be seen flowing above ground, the dark clusters could mean the water is underneath the surface.

When the astronomers looked closer, their equipment failed to confirm the presence of water. But Dr McEwen said that this could be because the water quickly dries on the surface and did not happen to be there when tests were carried out.

Alternatively, it might exist but at shallow depths.

        

       These results are the closest scientists have come to finding evidence of liquid water on the planet's surface today. Frozen water, however has been detected near the surface in many middle to high-altitude regions. Fresh-looking gullies suggest slope movements in geologically recent times, perhaps aided by water. Purported droplets of brine also appeared on struts of the Phoenix Mars Lander. If further study of the recurring dark flows supports evidence of brines, these could be the first known Martian locations with liquid water.

         

        'There's going to be years of research put into this to even prove that this is definitely a proof of water. And from that, we can move on: Okay, if this is water, what are the chances that life could be in these kinds of surroundings?' Ojha said. 'That would be exciting. That's kind of like the holy grail of science: To find our neighbor, to find life on some other planet,' he said.

        Ojha will graduate next year from the University of Arizona. Meanwhile, some Indian media have portrayed Lujendra Ojha as an Indian origin and claimed to be an Indian scientist. Indian media should grow up and be aware that globalization has made the world tiny and should appreciate the fact what has been discovered. Indian media please stop this propaganda!