NASA photographs “bear” on Mars: researchers explain the image
What is behind the motive
A bear on Mars? Nasa photographs strange rock formations
A bear on Mars? No, just a weird rock formation.
© Source: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona
“It looks a bit like a bear’s face. But what is it really?” This is how a video on the YouTube channel of the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiments (Hirise) from the University of Arizona. The picture in question can be seen in the background. It is a photograph of the surface of Mars. And indeed, with a little imagination, the rock formation actually looks like a bear.
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The video immediately explains what the eye sees here. You can see “a hill that has a V-shaped, collapsed structure” – the nose of the supposed bear’s face. Above the hill are two craters representing the eyes within the bear’s face. The circle around it, quasi the bear’s head, is a “circular fracture pattern” within the surface of the red planet.
The circular fracture pattern could be an indication that an impact crater is hidden underneath. For example, the mound (the bear’s nose) could be the vent of a volcano. The deposits around it may consist of lava, or mud, astrogeologist Alfred McEwen speculates.
Images of the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
The picture has it Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft recorded. she is since the year 2006 in orbit of the red planet. On board she has a high-resolution camera. The extremely detailed photos she records are primarily intended for researchers. Scientists use the images to find out more about the surface and atmosphere of Mars and the water that is or was present there (in whatever physical state).
The probe has now sent more than 445,000 terabytes of data back to Earth. “Previous cameras on other Mars probes could identify objects as small as a school bus. This camera can see things as small as a dining table,” writes Nasa.
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It’s not the first time the Hirise camera has sent curiosities to earth. Four years ago, the University of Arizona released a photo of the surface of Mars where Game of Thrones fans thought they saw a direwolf. The direwolf is the heraldic animal of House Stark. Three years ago, researchers discovered a formation that they Happy Face Crater baptized. It’s a bit reminiscent of a smiling smiley.
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