Ziggy Stardust would be thrilled! Recent images suggest that there are indeed “spiders” on Mars—if these photos are to be believed.
Stunning images captured by the European Space Agency’s Mars Express and ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) reveal intriguing arachnid-like shapes on the Martian surface.
These eerie formations are not actual spiders but rather small, dark features that emerge when the spring sunlight hits layers of carbon dioxide frost that accumulated over the dark winter months on Mars.
This phenomenon was observed on the outskirts of a region on Mars known as Inca City, located in the southern polar area. This nickname arises from the linear, almost geometric network of ridges that resemble the ruins of an ancient Inca city.
“The sunlight causes carbon dioxide ice at the bottom of the layer to turn into gas, which subsequently builds up and breaks through slabs of overlying ice,” the ESA said. “The gas bursts free in Martian springtime, dragging dark material up to the surface as it goes and shattering layers of ice up to a meter thick.”
The emerging gas, heavy with dark dust, bursts through cracks in the ice, creating tall fountains or geysers. These geysers shoot up before the dust settles back down onto the surface, forming dark spots that range in size from 45 meters to 1 kilometer across.
“This same process creates characteristic ‘spider-shaped’ patterns etched beneath the ice—and so these dark spots are a telltale sign that spiders may be lurking below,” the agency had teased in a recent media release.
Another European Space Agency (ESA) Mars explorer, the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO), has captured especially clear images of these spider-like patterns. The tendrils photographed by TGO are located near, but just outside, the area shown in the new Mars Express images.
The Mars Express captures the dark spots on the surface created by escaping gas and material, while the TGO perspective also reveals the intricate, web-like channels carved into the ice below.
Over the past two decades, Mars Express has significantly enhanced our understanding of Mars. For instance, it discovered that water constitutes up to 40% of the ground in certain regions of Mars’ grand canyon. The orbiter continues to capture detailed images of the Martian surface, map its minerals, investigate the composition and circulation of its atmosphere, probe beneath its crust, and study the overall Martian environment.
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