Strange shapes and salt deposits discovered on Mars. They could indicate a habitable past.
Frankfurt – It is not uncommon for strange objects to be photographed on Mars that look completely out of place there. Whether it is supposed skeletons, a “bear” on Mars, “tire tracks,” “dragon gauntlets” or a floating spoon – all of these objects found on Mars have one thing in common: they arise because the human brain has a kind of “automatic completion” function built in. This phenomenon is called pareidolia, and it allows many people to recognize familiar objects in unfamiliar environments, such as shapes in a cloud, for example.
'Smiley face' on Mars shows where there should once have been water
The new image taken by the European Space Agency's ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter is also a product of pareidolia. The image, that Posted on Instagramand appears to show a “smiling face” on Mars looking at the viewer with two eyes. “Why so serious?” Issa asks. Instagram He then offers an explanation for the image: Mars was once “a world of rivers, lakes and perhaps oceans.” The space agency explains: “Now its secrets are being revealed through chlorine salt deposits found by the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter.”
According to the space agency, the sediments, which appear slightly purple in the Mars image, are remnants of ancient bodies of water and could indicate “habitable areas billions of years ago.”
Mars was once a wet planet filled with water.
Today Mars is a dusty, icy desert world; water no longer exists on the surface or only in the form of ice. But science has long believed that Mars was once a wet planet. Mars rovers have repeatedly found evidence of past water on the Red Planet, such as dried-up riverbeds or lakes.
As the water disappeared over time, it left its mineral “fingerprint” on the surface of Mars. These salt deposits could indicate areas where there were pools of water, for example, where life might have once existed. (unpaid invoice)
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