Researchers from the Royal Observatory of Belgium have made an interesting but unexplained discovery. The rotation of the planet Mars is accelerating, RTBF reports.
Belgian astronomers utilised data from NASA's 'InSight' mission, which ended last year and tracked the rotation of Mars for 900 days. After studying the data, Belgian astronomers concluded that the red planet is rotating faster than observed in the past.
The astronomers presented the results of their analysis on Thursday, which leaves many more questions unanswered. The Belgian researchers concluded that "the duration of a Martian day shortens by a fraction of a millisecond each year."
The exact reason for this acceleration is still unknown. However, one hypothesis has already been proposed. It could potentially be a result of "the accumulation of ice at the Martian poles or the elevation of continental masses after being covered with ice," the study published in the academic journal Nature concluded.
