MRO discovers bizarre formations on the surface of Mars

The landscapes of Mars captivate with their unearthly sight. The Red planet may not have dazzling oceans and large green spaces, but it has an amazing variety of wild and magnificent surface formations. An especially unusual territory is a new photo from NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, released this week, which depicts bizarre icy landforms.

The amazing Martian landscape can be an icy place. Source: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UArizonambo

The images were taken using a HiRISE camera operated by a team from the University of Arizona. MRO took an amazing picture in November 2022. However, the other day it was published and presented to NASA as an “image of the day”.

The resulting image shows what the HiRISE team describes as rounded landforms covered with polygons with surrounding trenches. Unusual formations are located in the middle latitudes of Mars.

“A significant amount of ground ice has formed at this latitude, which may still be present, and where temperatures have sometimes been high enough in the recent past for the ice to even melt. As a result, a combination of expansion and compression of ice, as well as sublimation, could create this amazing landscape,” the HiRISE team wrote.

Sublimation occurs when a solid substance is converted directly into a gas without a liquid state. This process has helped create some other strange formations on Mars, like the face of a bear.

MRO’s work highlighted the diversity of Martian landscapes. The spacecraft has been in orbit around Mars since 2006 and continues to develop its amazing scientific heritage.

Earlier we reported on how scientists discovered the secret of an amazing phenomenon in the atmosphere of Mars.

According to uahirise.org

Follow us on Twitter to get the most interesting space news in time
https://twitter.com/ust_magazine