In new images taken by the old, still operational Mars Express spacecraft, you can see what look like giant spiders. These dark structures are formed on Mars by sunlight.
Structures recorded by European Space Agency (ESA) probe cameras. They resemble the ruins of an ancient city. They are called scientists working on ESA's Mars projects Inca cities. In the latest image, the Inca cities are hidden “Martian spiders”. They were observed by the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on board the spacecraft Mars Express.
It is the first Mars probe built by the European Space Agency and was safely delivered into orbit of the Red Planet in 2003. Despite more than 20 years of operation in an extremely challenging environment, the probe is still collecting extremely valuable data. Its reliability should make us doubly happy, because Polish scientists and engineers from the Space Research Center of the Polish Academy of Sciences worked on the probe.
Of course, the small, dark structures captured in the photo are not real spiders that appear on the surface after a long winter. They have a geological origin. Dark spider-like structures near Antarctica Morsi They appear in the spring The sun falls on layers of solidified carbon dioxideWhich settled there during the winter months. Sunlight causes the frozen carbon dioxide at the bottom of the layer to sublimate, turning it into a gas. This builds up and begins to break through the ice sheets. After some time, it breaks layers of ice up to one meter thick and escapes outside.
The gas emerging from under the ice, along with the dark dust suspended in it, shoots upward through cracks in the ice in the form of tall fountains or geysers. Then it retreats and settles on the surface. This creates dark spots with a diameter of 45 m to 1 km. The same process creates distinctive “Spider-like” patterns carved under the ice.
But spiders weren't just recorded by Mars Express cameras. Another ESA probe – the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) – was also imaged. Spider filament-like structures. Those captured by TGO are outside the area imaged by Mars Express. The Mars Express view shows dark spots on the surface formed by leaking gas and material, while the TGO view also shows spiderweb-like channels carved into the ice.
Dark, spider-like spots creep over the high hills and vast plateaus of the polar regions. Most of them can be seen as small specks in a dark area outside the Inca city, officially known as Narrow maze.
This structure was discovered in 1972 by the Mariner 9 probe, and researchers are still unsure how this structure formed. Geometric structures that resemble monuments from a bird's eye view. It is possible that the sand dunes there turned to stone over time. Materials such as magma or sand may seep through cracked layers of Martian rock. Hills may also be jagged glacial structures.
The “walls” of the Martian Inca city appear to be part of a large wall A circle with a diameter of 86 km. This is what makes scientists doubt that the “city” is located in the large hole that was formed The result of an asteroid colliding with the surface of the planet. This impact likely caused the fissures to undulate, which were then filled with rising lava. Over time, it has undergone natural erosion processes. Hence the impression of the ruins of the city.
The latest images published by the European Space Agency are clear evidence that a well-designed probe can collect extremely valuable data even after 20 years of operation in orbit. The orbiter continues to photograph the surface of MarsMapping its minerals, studying the composition and circulation of the atmosphere, exploring under its crust, and examining the Martian environment.
The HRSC camera on the rover showed us the whole thing Cross section of the Martian landscape. From wind-carved hills and trenches, to craters on the slopes of massive volcanoes, to impact craters, tectonic faults, river channels and ancient lava pools. The mission was very productive throughout its duration. It has allowed for a fuller and more accurate understanding of our planetary neighbor than ever before.
We are counting on more great photos.
source: European Space Agency.
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