The European Space Agency's spacecraft has revealed captivating images of a mysterious spider on Mars, known as "araneiforms."
These attractive features, resembling dark cracks in the Martian soil, have earned the nickname "spiders from Mars."
European Space Agency's spacecraft captures mysterious spider on Mars
ESA has found strange formations on Mars that look like dark cracks in the soil.
They are called "araneiforms" and resemble spiders, although they're not real spiders. People gave them the nickname "spiders from Mars" due to their shape, which is similar to arachnids.
The European Space Agency's Mars Express and Trace Gas Orbiter spacecraft have taken clear pictures of these mysterious features.
The araneiforms are mostly found near the southern pole of Mars and are thought to form in the springtime.
When sunlight shines through and warms a layer of carbon dioxide ice, gas accumulates below and eventually bursts through cracks in the ice.
As the gas emerges, it carries dark dust particles, creating dark marks that look like spiders on the surface.
The scientific name for these formations, "araneiforms," derives from the Latin term for "shaped like a spider."
The process of their creation is unique to Mars and does not occur on Earth.
According to Dr. Meg Schwamb, an astronomer from Queen's University Belfast, the process that creates the spider-like formations on Mars is connected to the planet's seasons.
It also helps to release carbon dioxide back into the Martian atmosphere. By studying these araneiforms and gas jets, scientists gain important knowledge about the distinctions between Mars and Earth.
Although araneiforms were initially spotted more than twenty years ago, it was only in 2021 that astronomers could verify how they are formed.
Scientists from Trinity College Dublin replicated this Martian phenomenon in laboratory tests.
The result showed that the spider patterns are created by the direct transformation of solid carbon dioxide (dry ice) into gas through a process called sublimation.
These findings emphasize the special geological processes happening on Mars and the unique characteristics of its atmosphere.
Araneiforms are especially noticeable in a region called Inca City, also known as Angustus Labyrinthus, which was identified in 1972.
