[U] New Mars-Quakes... Captured, By InSight...

In late August of this year, it seems Mars entered an active "quake" season (just as we were listening to the soft vibrations of jade-hued high mountains, ourselves). . . cool.

Here is the latest -- from the team at NASA. To be sure, these observations were made possible, as a result of using poured-sand -- to clean the solar panels on InSight, months earlier (otherwise, the seismometer might have had to be powered-off at the fortuitous moments when the quakes occurred, to conserve power, and heat, on the lander):

. . .Scientists are working to pinpoint the source and which direction the seismic waves traveled, but they know the shaking occurred too far to have originated where InSight has detected almost all of its previous large quakes: Cerberus Fossae, a region roughly 1,000 miles (1,609 kilometers) away where lava may have flowed within the last few million years. One especially intriguing possibility is Valles Marineris, the epically long canyon system that scars the Martian equator. The approximate center of that canyon system is 6,027 miles (9,700 kilometers) from InSight.

To the surprise of scientists, the Aug. 25 quakes were two different types, as well. The magnitude 4.2 quake was dominated by slow, low-frequency vibrations, while fast, high-frequency vibrations characterized the magnitude 4.1 quake. The magnitude 4.1 quake was also much closer to the lander -- only about 575 miles (925 kilometers) away.

That’s good news for seismologists: Recording different quakes from a range of distances and with different kinds of seismic waves provides more information about a planet’s inner structure. This summer, the mission’s scientists used previous marsquake data to detail the depth and thickness of the planet’s crust and mantle, plus the size of its molten core. . . .

Despite their differences, the two August quakes do have something in common other than being big: Both occurred during the day, the windiest – and, to a seismometer, noisiest – time on Mars. InSight’s seismometer usually finds marsquakes at night, when the planet cools off and winds are low. But the signals from these quakes were large enough to rise above any noise caused by wind. . . .

Now you know. Grinning, at the wonder -- of "hearing" quake results some 141 million miles from our Sun, and about 50 million miles off our surface. Indeed, it is as though Milton's powdered night street is. . . whispering back to us, in very subtle rhythms. Here's an elementary school / kid-friendly version, on the science of it all:



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