WWhile this image may look like streaks of ink left absent-mindedly on a pillow, what you're actually seeing is what looks like the aftermath of dust avalanches on Mars.
Sometime between 2013 and 2017, a meteorite crashed into the rim of Mount Apollinaria, a huge ancient volcano. The fine dust then rolled down the crater's steep slopes and formed the dark streaks seen in this image, which was captured by the European Space Agency's ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter on Christmas Eve 2023.
But this is not the only cluster of dark stripes on the surface of the Red Planet. According to research, there are more than 2 million bands worldwide. new Natural communications study Valentin Tertius Bikel, a planetary geomorphology researcher at the Center for Space and Habitability at the University of Bern in Switzerland. According to Bickel's analysis of the streaky images, they rarely occur as a result of dramatic events such as meteorite impacts and Marsquakes. Instead, these streaks often seem to emerge from something much more mundane: the seasons.
Read more: “Do our oceans feel the pull of Mars?»
In summer and autumn in the south of Mars it can be quite windy, sprinkle more sand. And at various points on Mars, the most intense wind loads appear to occur during sunrise and sunset. This may explain why scientists have rarely seen these streaks form, since most Mars orbiters are unable to capture images during these darker times. These stripes also tend to disappear after a few years or decades.
The new study also adds to growing evidence that the streaks are not related to liquid water on Mars. Scientists have speculated about this possibility since the 1970s, when the elusive features were first discovered by NASA's Viking lander. In May of this year, a previous paper co-authored by Bickel was published with the sharp title “Stripes on the Martian slopes are dry.” marked that the streaks may play “an important role in the Martian dust cycle.”
While the evidence throws cold water on features once associated with habitability on a dry planet, NASA's Perseverance rover recently encountered another discoveries that may point to previous life on the Red Planet.
Enjoying Nautilus? Subscribe to our free newsletter.
Lead image: ESA/TGO/CaSSIS.
