Readers Comments
My
esteemed readers, I am presenting some of your comments as stated last week. Next
week, I will continue with a new topic by God's grace. Happy reading
Solar System: Man's
Discoveries and Activities on Mars
Dear
Prof M. K. Othman
In
reference to the article on Solar System: Man's Discoveries and Activities on
Mars published by lovely newspaper; LEADERSHIP FRIDAY of , 4th November 2016.
It was indeed a very interesting scientific write up on solar system. Permit me
to make contribution on the subject for the purpose of educating the general
public. The human activities and efforts made us to discover our solar system,
which consists of the sun; the nine
officially identified planets, at least three “dwarf planets”, many satellites
of the planet, a large number of small bodies (the comet and asteroids), and
the interplanetary medium. The nine planets as we all know are Mercury, Venus,
Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. The Sun is the
richest source of electromagnetic energy (mostly in the form of heat and light)
in the solar system. The Sun's nearest known stellar neighbor is a red dwarf
star called Proximal Centauri, at a distance of 4.3 light years away. The inner
solar system contains the Sun, Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars: the main
asteroid belt lies between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. The planets of the
outer solar system are Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. (Pluto is
classified as dwarf planet). The sun
contains around 98% of all the material in the solar system. The larger an
object is, the more gravity it has. This is because the sun is so large, its
powerful gravity attracts all the other objects in the solar system towards it.
The
planets, most of the satellites of the planets and the asteroids revolve around
the Sun in the same direction, in nearly circular orbits. When looking down
from above the Sun's North Pole, the planets orbit in a counter-clockwise
direction.
The
planets orbit the Sun in or near the same plane, called the ecliptic. The whole
solar system, together with the local stars visible on a clear night, orbits
the center of our home galaxy, a spiral disk of 200 billion stars we call the
Milky Way. The Milky Way has two small galaxies orbiting it nearby, which are
visible from the southern hemisphere. They are called the Large Magellanic Cloud
and the Small Magellanic Cloud. The nearest large galaxy is the
Andromeda Galaxy.
Mars
is the fourth planet from the sun and the second smallest planet in the solar
system, after mercury. Named after Roman god of war, it is often referred to
as the “Red Planet” because the iron
oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance. Mars is a
terrestrial planet with a thin atmosphere, having surface features reminiscent
both of the impact craters of the moon and the valleys, deserts and polar ice
caps of the Earth, mars has two moons namely: phobos and Deimos, which are
small and irregularly shaped. These may be captured asteroids, similar to 5261
Eureka, a mars Trojan.
After
recording successes on the moon mission, the next challenge taken by the
astronomers is the "mission to mars". Mars is the next simple
destination after the moon mission for scientific discovery and robotic and
human exploration as we expand our presence into the solar system. Mars
formation and evolution are comparable to that of earth, therefore scientific
study of Mars can help us learn more about the history and future our own
planet; earth. Already some of the observations on Mars show conditions suitable
for life in its past. Future exploration might uncover evidences of the
fundamental mysteries human existence and galaxies.
As
mentioned, mars is the fourth planet from the sun and the second-smallest
planet in the Solar System, after Mercury. It is sometimes called the "Red
Planet" because of the iron oxide prevalent on its surface, which gives it
a reddish appearance. Mars as one of the terrestrial planets has a thin
atmosphere, with surface features reminiscent both of the impact craters of the
Moon and the valleys, deserts, and polar ice caps of Earth. The rotational
period and seasonal cycles of Mars are likewise similar to those of Earth, as
is the tilt that produces the seasons. Mars is the site of Olympus Mons, the
largest volcano and second-highest Known Mountain in the Solar System. The
smooth Bore appearing like basin in the northern hemisphere covers 40% of the
planet and may be a giant impact feature. Mars has two moons orbiting around
it, Phobos and Deimos, they are small and of irregularly shaped. These could be
captured as asteroids, similar to 5261 Eureka, a Mars Trojan. Physically, Mars
is approximately half the diameter of Earth and its surface area is only
slightly less than the total areas of Earth’s dry land. Mars is less dense than
Earth, having about 15% of Earth's volume and 11% of Earth's mass, resulting in
about 38% of Earth's surface gravity. The red-orange appearance of the Martian surface
is caused by iron (III) oxide, or rust. Today, scientists are arduously working
round the clock studying mars while billions of Dollars are globally being expended
on such studies. This has made the robotic explorers to closely study Mars for
more than 40 years, even as early as the 1950s, aerospace engineer Wernhervon
Braun, had published his vision of a mission to Mars in his book The
Mars Project. The book became an inspirational material for the people
interested in understanding our solar system. NASA is leading in this expensive
venture, its path for the human exploration of Mars begins in low-Earth orbit
aboard the International Space Station. Astronauts on the orbiting laboratory
are
helping
us prove many of the technologies and communications systems needed for human
missions to deep space, including Mars.
Scientists
should not relent in their efforts to discover all the mysteries surrounding
this red Planet and their efforts may soon yield dividends. However, as for the
human mission to Mars, I think we need to tread very softly. As adventurous as
it looks, it will be a suicide mission
Aliyu Abubakar Kele,
Aliero
Dear M. K. Othman
let me use this opportunity to thank congratulate you and
Leadership Friday for your interesting column "Breakthrough with MK
Othman". Please sir, keep up the good work and more power to your elbow.
Generally, I find your articles very interesting and refreshing especially on Solar System: Man's
Discoveries and Activities on Mars. This
topic aroused my interest on the mission of man to colonise and inhibit the
planet Mars. How possible? After careful study of your article and accessing
information on Mars, popularly called red planet, I identified some areas that
made me more inquisitive to find out how man plans to achieve his dream of
inhabiting Mars or will I say to become multi-planet specie in the next 40 to
100 years. Is that not a tall dream that may never happen? Although, the man
championing this mission Mr. Elon Musk is doing a great job to see that this
dream of human being landing on Mars comes to fulfilment. My question needing urgent answer is how does man intend to make Mars habitable for himself in terms of food, water, electricity and
clean air? This question is arising as stated in your article it says and I
quote “the condition of Mars is certainly a far cry from that of earth. The
average temperature on the plant is negative 80 degrees Fahrenheit, and it doesn't
have earth's dense atmosphere, which is what result in the huge temperature
fluctuation and massive dust storms". Similarly, Mars also lack a magnetic
field, which means there is nothing to shield inhabitants from the intense
radiation that is blasted out by the sun.
Zayyanu
Musa
Adieu
Baba Abdulkarim "Kaida", the Epitome of Due Process
As a little boy on errand, to buy Soap, Omo, or
Vedan for my dear mother or father, whenever I headed to '' KA'IDA SHOP'' -
there I was better served, with a gift of biscuit or sweet, and above all with
smile and simplicity. Indeed, I sympathize with our errand children of today
who missed the generosity of ''Ka'ida.'' May the reward of the example you
showed reflect in the life of the hereafter. God's guidance and protection is
my prayer to the family you left behind, amen. GOODBYE BABA "KAIDA".
Please, Prof. accept my deep hearted condolence.
Nura Shehu
Bindawa
May Allah forgive his sin, grant him Aljannah
Firdous and give you the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss
Umar Aliyu
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