This handout photograph taken on July 29, 2022, and released by Brad Tucker, an astrophysicist at the Australian National University, shows a space debris seen at a farmland near Dalgety in the Snowy Mountains region of New South Wales. (BRAD TUCKER / AFP)
CANBERRA – Australian researchers have developed a new method to scan the deep interior of planets.
Our research presents an innovative method using a single instrument to scan the interior of any planet in a way that's never been done before.
Hrvoje Tkalčić,
co-author of a study from the ANU Research School of Earth Sciences
The method, detailed in a report published by Australian National University (ANU), requires only one seismometer on the surface of a planet to work.
ALSO READ: Australia called on to help NASA land on the Moon and Mars
It uses technology similar to an ultrasound scan that uses sound waves to generate images of a patient's body to confirm whether or not a planet has a core.
It works by measuring specific seismic waves generated by the shaking of the planet's surface.
As the waves reverberate throughout the interior of the planet they bounce off the core, allowing researchers to measure its size.
"Our research presents an innovative method using a single instrument to scan the interior of any planet in a way that's never been done before," Hrvoje Tkalčić, co-author of the study from the ANU Research School of Earth Sciences, said in a media release.
READ MORE: Australia announces new space agency
The research team trialed the new method on Mars, determining the Red Planet has a core approximately 3,620 km in diameter.
Co-author Sheng Wang said confirming the existence of a core can help scientists understand a planet's past and future evolution, including at what point its magnetic field formed and ceased to exist.
"Modeling suggests that the Martian core is liquid and while it is made up of mostly iron and nickel, it could also contain traces of lighter elements such as hydrogen and sulphur. These elements can alter the ability of the core to transport heat," he said.
"A magnetic field is important because it shields us from cosmic radiation, which is why life on Earth is possible."
ALSO READ: Australia: Space doctors, lawyers among space industry jobs 2030
Researchers are hopeful the method can help improve the understanding of other celestial bodies including the moon.