Organic Carbon on Mars Found to Come From Natural "Batteries"

By Chelsea Gohd
Nov 2, 2018 4:30 PMMay 17, 2019 9:39 PM
A mosaic image of Mars created from over 100 images taken by Viking Orbiters in the 1970s. (Credit: Viking Project, USGS, NASA)
A mosaic image of Mars created from over 100 images taken by Viking Orbiters in the 1970s. (Credit: Viking Project, USGS, NASA)

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For years, astronomers have wondered where the Red Planet got its organic carbon compounds, which are thought to be necessary for life as we know it on Earth. That organic carbon often comes from biological sources on Earth, but researchers have been working to figure out how they’re created on Mars. Now, a new analysis of Martian meteorites indicates that the organic carbon on Mars may have come from naturally-occurring “batteries.”

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