Achi news desk-
The European Space Agency reported a surprising discovery in a region of Mars called Inca City, where dark shapes resembling spiders were discovered by the agency’s Mars Express orbital satellite. The strange arachnid shapes are actually geological features formed by channels of carbon dioxide gas that originate as the weather warms in the Southern Hemisphere of Mars for that planet’s spring. This causes them to create black branches that measure from 0.03 to 0.6 miles across (45 meters to 1 kilometer) and dot an area near the South Pole of Mars known as either Inca City or Angustus Labyrinthus. Layers upon layers of carbon dioxide ice melt in the process, with the lower layers turning to gas (or sublimating), raising dark dust and then exploding out of the covering layers.
“This new view of Inca City and its hidden arachnid inhabitants was captured by the Mars Express High-Definition Stereo Camera,” the ESA reported. Their spacecraft captured images of “everything from wind-sculpted ridges and gullies to sinkholes on the slopes of giant volcanoes to impact craters, tectonic faults, river channels and ancient lava pools.”
Although fans of aliens and bugs (and David Bowie) are likely to be disappointed by the lack of literal Mars spiders, the presence of carbon dioxide suggests that life forms may still exist on the Red Planet. Carbon is considered an essential element in the creation of life because it is abundant in nature and polymerizes (forms large, complex molecules) easily with other ubiquitous elements such as hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen. Last year a Mars rover discovered organic compounds, or substances that have been polymerized with carbon.
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