ESA orbiter discovers “signs of spiders” on Mars – DW – 04/25/2024

Although at first glance it may seem that Mars is besieged by spiders, there is actually no reason to worry, especially if you are afraid of these arachnids. What a new image of Martian “spiders” from the Mars Express probe and the European Space Agency’s (ESA) ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter shows is actually seasonal eruptions of carbon dioxide on the Red Planet.

These peculiar formations Found in an area called the “Inca City” in the south polar region of Mars, they are a product of ice that releases gas-producing channels ranging from 45 meters to 1 kilometer in diameter as the Martian winter changes to the spring season. .

“These small dark features form when spring sunlight hits layers of carbon dioxide deposited during the dark winter months,” ESA said. “Sunlight turns the ice from carbon dioxide at the base of the layer into a gas, causing it to accumulate and destroy the upper ice sheets. The gas is released during the Martian spring, pulling dark material toward the surface and breaking up layers of ice. up to a meter,” they add.

This phenomenon causes gas laden with dark dust to shoot out in tall columns through cracks in the ice, forming geysers that then fall and settle on the surface, creating the dark patches observed. The same process forms the characteristic spider-like patterns beneath the ice, a hallmark of these curious formations.

Inca city on Mars

The Inca City, discovered in 1972 by NASA’s Mariner 9 probe and also known as Angustus Labyrinth, owes its name to its linear mountain ranges, which were originally thought to be fossilized sand dunes or the remains of ancient Martian glaciers. However, according to reports Living Science

, discoveries made in 2002 by the Mars Orbiter probe revealed that it was in fact part of a circular crater about 86 km wide, possibly an ancient impact crater. The geometric ridges could then be magma intrusions created after a space rock impact.

A classic example of pareidolia.

Our minds often trick us into seeing things that don’t exist, a phenomenon known as pareidolia. And quickly detecting familiar patterns may have evolutionary significance for identifying possible dangers, such as a snake, so we sometimes see things where there are none, such as Martian “spiders.”

On Mars, we have witnessed several pareidolia, such as the famous “bear face” or even “alien door” captured by Curiosity, as well as the cat-shaped rock captured by Perseverance. For its part, on the Moon, the Chinese Yutu 2 rover discovered a “mysterious cabin”, which turned out to be a rock of a peculiar shape. What else will we see on the vast and mysterious Martian landscape?

Felipe Espinosa Wang with information from ESA and Live Science.