![]() It has been suggested that these deposits were "pasted" on the slopes, with the distinct, rounded boundary on their upslope edges being the highest remaining point of this pasted-on layer. Many of the hills and ridges in this area also show unusual deposits of material that occur preferentially on the cold, north-facing slopes. Erosion has completely removed these layers in most places, leaving behind only the small isolated hills and knobs seen today. These ledges are made of more resistant layers of rock and are the last remnants of layers that once were continuous across this entire region. Many of these knobs, including the "Face," have several flat ledges partway up the hill slopes. The THEMIS image provides a broad perspective of the landscape in this region, showing numerous knobs and hills that have been eroded into a remarkable array of different shapes. Like the hills and knobs of Mars, however, Camelback Mountain was carved into its unusual shape by thousands of years of erosion. A similar-size hill in Phoenix, Arizona resembles a camel lying on the ground, and Phoenicians whimsically refer to it as Camelback Mountain. Since that time the Mars Orbiter Camera on the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft has provided detailed views of this hill that clearly show that it is a normal geologic feature with slopes and ridges carved by eons of wind and downslope motion due to gravity. This 3-km long knob, located near 10° N, 40° W (320° E), was first imaged by the Viking spacecraft in the 1970's and was seen by some to resemble a face carved into the rocks of Mars. RELATED STORY: Dozens of Fresh Craters On Mars Discovered by NASA Thanks To The AI Crater ClassifierĬheck out more news and information on Mars in Science Times.The so called "Face on Mars" can be seen slightly above center and to the right in this THEMIS visible image. Analysis has shown that the land formation is a chance alignment of mineral dunes. The first that astronomers spotted a face on the Red Planet was in 1976, taken by Viking 1 Orbiter. In 2020, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter uncovered an impact crater that looked like Ed Asner, according to CNet's report. The angel pattern was spotted between Ultimata Lingula and Ultima Chasma.īut over the years, astronomers have also spotted other images, like a rabbit, dragon, and a bat signal. Additionally, the hand of the angel that looks like it is reaching to the left is a large sublimation pit. For instance, this angel landscape on Mars is visible because of the nearby dune fields' pattern and composition. Last year in December, astronomers from the European Space Agency's Mars Express satellite have captured a photo of what looks like an angel that has wings and a halo near the south pole of Mars.Īccording to a previous report of Science Times, seeing human faces of familiar images on objects or landscapes is called pareidolia. ![]() The Happy Face crater is not the only inanimate object that is seen on Mars. The elevations that the different ice densities on the surface represent the distinct features seen above.ĪLSO READ: Images From Mars Reveal Unusual Triple Craters Overlapping Each Other Also, some blobby features have changed shape still because of thermal erosion from the Sun, which causes sublimation, or the phenomenon when a solid turns into a gas without passing the liquid state, which causes more erosion.Īccording to MailOnline, the evaporated frost may have settled anywhere on the planet but carbon dioxide ice was created near the poles, which only shift throughout the year as the climate on the planet changes. Thermal erosion has revealed more of the surface of the crater, which makes the smile appear larger. Monitoring these regions for long periods can give insight into the longer-term climate trends on Mars. He added that measuring these changes on the Happy Face crater through the Martian year could help them understand the annual deposition and removal of polar frost. Also, it looked like it has gotten a nose job with the two depressions merging to form only one depression. Planetary scientist Ross Beyer of the Sagan Center at the SETI Institute said that almost a decade of thermal erosion had made the Happy Face crater smile larger. Thermal Erosion Reveals More of the Martian Soil As the carbon dioxide evaporates and exposes more soil, the 'nose' of the Happy Face crater has also grown into one large depression from two small dots, while the 'smile' has also grown significantly. The grinning visage was first discovered in 2011 by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter using its powerful High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera (HiRISE).Īccording to Universe Today, a new image captured in 2020 has proven that it has changed over the past ten years due to thermal erosion. The infamous Happy Face crater on Mars near the south pole is smiling even brighter over the last decade.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |