Captivating Images Reveal Spider-Like Formations
Images captured by the European Space Agency's ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter and Mars Express spacecraft have revealed eerie dark spots resembling a swarm of giant spiders crawling across the Martian surface. The images, taken near a region nicknamed "Inca City" at the planet's south pole, are enough to send shivers down the spine of anyone with arachnophobia.
Not Real Spiders, but Intriguing Ice Features
However, fear not! These are not actual spiders. Instead, they are dark patches formed on the Martian surface as a result of explosive gas escaping from beneath a layer of carbon dioxide (CO2) ice.
Seasonal Phenomena: Springtime on Mars
Mars experiences four distinct seasons, similar to Earth. ESA explains that the spider-like dark spots emerge in Martian springtime when sunlight reaches CO2 deposits that have settled during the planet's long, dark winter.
Sunlight transforms the CO2 ice at the bottom of these deposits into gas. The gas builds up and eventually fractures the overlying ice sheets covering the Martian poles. As the gas escapes, it carries dark, dusty material to the surface, breaking through ice layers that can be up to a meter thick.
These plumes of dusty gas shoot up and out through cracks in the ice, resembling geysers or jets, and then settle back down, creating the dark spots.
Appearances Can Deceive: A Web of Intrigue
Live Science describes the dark patches as looking like black spiders huddling together, with their legs extended. From the vantage point of space, these spots may appear small, but they are actually quite large. ESA reports that they typically measure around 45 meters (148 feet) in width, with some reaching up to a kilometer (0.6 miles) across.