The great musical genius of the last century, David Bowie, has always been known for his originality and incredible creative abilities. One of his most famous hits was the song Spiders from Mars. And, although it may seem fantastic, there was a little truth in it. Of course, there are no spiders on Mars, but there are other amazing phenomena, also known as “spiders”.
Mars always attracts the attention of researchers, and NASA plays an important role in this. One of the NASA orbiters, which is in the orbit of Mars, made an exciting journey over the planet and captured a breathtaking view of the arachnoid terrain.
The image was obtained using the HiRISE camera (High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment). The camera is installed on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). The team, based at the University of Arizona, has the opportunity to study the huge archive of images obtained and publish the most interesting pictures in the category “Photo of the Day”, which they called HiPOD. The image of the “spiders” crater was taken by the orbiter in May 2022 and published by the HiPOD team only recently.
The resulting image shows a crater with two interesting features. The first is spider-like dark formations that resemble clusters of spiders moving across the landscape. The second is geometric polygonal shapes that are very similar to a dried up ground surface. The HiRISE team stated that this image helped to study the influence of solar radiation on the development of such localities.
Sublimation
But the researchers were looking at more than just natural phenomena. The crater emerges against the background of the landscape of Mars, giving the whole image incredible depth and perspective. It reminds us how beautiful and mysterious the planet Mars can be.
But let’s look at the scientific aspect of this discovery. “Spiders” on Mars tell the story of natural processes on the planet. They are formed as a result of the sublimation of ice under the surface. Sublimation is a process when a substance passes directly from a solid state to a gaseous state. Such interesting formations have been observed on other parts of Mars, which indicates a fairly widespread process on the planet.
It is also worth noting that polygonal formations can be no less interesting, even if they are less noticeable. Similar forms have been observed in cold terrestrial conditions, where water periodically freezes and thaws. Polygons on Mars are usually formed due to raised ridges, and studying these shapes can help scientists understand the climatic conditions and the distribution of ice on the planet.
So, this picture of the “spiders” crater on Mars not only shows us the incredible beauty of this planet, but also gives us the opportunity to study the natural processes and climatic conditions of this distant world system.
According to uahirise.org
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