Dual-spacecraft observations reveal that Kelvin-Helmholtz waves at Mars’s ionospheric boundary trigger sudden, violent bursts that strip away atmospheric plasma far faster than steady escape routes. [http://labroots.com/trending/space/30856/solar-wind-waves-st…re-space-2](http://labroots.com/trending/space/30856/solar-wind-waves-st…re-space-2)

How has Mars lost its atmosphere over time? This is what a recent study published in Science Advances hopes to address as a team of scientists investigated a connection between the solar wind the Mars’ atmospheric loss. This study has the potential to help scientists better understand how Mars went from a potentially habitable world to the cold and dry planet today, along with gaining insight into other worlds.

For the study, the researchers analyzed a combination of data obtained from NASA’s Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft and China’s Tianwen-1 mission. The primary motivation behind the study was to address a longstanding knowledge gap regarding the physical processes occurring when the solar wind strikes Mar’s atmosphere and how this results in atmospheric loss. While Tianwen-1 data was used to track the incoming solar wind, MAVEN data was used to observe how this incoming solar wind impacted atmospheric loss.

In the end, the researchers found a known phenomenon called Kelvin–Helmholtz (KH) waves that are produced as the incoming solar wind collides with Mars’ atmosphere. KH waves are produced when two fluids or gases of different speeds and densities slied past each other and can often be seen in Earth’s clouds. The researchers concluded that these KH waves are the reason behind the spikes in atmospheric ions being lost to space.