Remarkable Nasa photo shows eerie Mars landscape scattered with ‘TREES' – and it's not the only mystery in the sand
However, the US space agency was quick to explain otherwise.
Advertisement
6
The image was captured by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
Credit: NASA
6
Dark streaks in the sand give the illusion of trees
Credit: NASA
"
Are these trees growing on Mars? No," Nasa
"
Groups of dark brown streaks have been photographed by the
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
on melting pinkish sand dunes covered with light frost.
"
The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, which had been in space just two years before taking the shot, was able to capture dark sand
on the interior of Martian sand
dunes
- giving the illusion of trees.
These tree-like dark streaks of sand are located near Mars' North Pole - which are usually covered in a layer of carbon dioxide ice in the winter.
Advertisement
READ MORE ON SPACE
The dark sand had
become more visible during the Martian spring, when the Sun melted the lighter
carbon dioxide ice on the surface of the sand.
"
When occurring near the top of a dune,
dark sand may cascade
down the dune leaving
dark surface streaks -
streaks that might appear at first to be
tree
s standing in front of the lighter regions but cast no shadows," explained Nasa.
"
Objects about 25cm across are resolved on
this image
spanning about one kilometer.
"
Close ups of some parts of this image show
billowing plume
s indicating that the
sand slides
were occurring even while the image was being taken.
"
Advertisement
Most read in Science
Exclusive
Exclusive
But they're not the only bizarre-looking specimens located in Mars' faraway sands.
6
Can you spot the face?
Credit: NASA
A b
uried face
What looks like a grisly,
The image, taken by the rover in September, appears to show a sandy face with a large brow bone, nostrils and a sloping mouth on the left side.
Advertisement
6
Which do you see first - the angel or the heart?
Credit: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin
South Pole 'angel'
On the opposite side of the planet to Mars' mysterious 'trees', lies an 'angel' in the Martian regolith.
Snapped by the European Space Agency's (ESA) Mars Express, this image of the Red Planet's South Pole seems to show an angel and a heart together.
ESA
Advertisement
6
Humans have found no signs of life on Mars - yet
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
Martian bone
In 2014,
Nasa's Curiosity rover sent a photo back to Earth with what looked like a
femur bone
from a human thigh
in the sand.
Of course, it was just a strangely shaped rock - and not quite proof of aliens.
Scientists at the time said the unusual shape was most likely the product of erosion by wind or water.
Advertisement
6
There's no telling how far down this pit goes
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona
Deep pit
This deep and oddly circular pit on Mars could lead to an extensive network of underground tunnels that may
Scientists captured the image of the hole from orbit at the Martian South Pole in 2017.
While Nasa doesn't have any definitive answers on this odd round pit, the circular formation is likely a collapse pit or an impact crater.
Advertisement
Mars facts
Here's what you need to know about the red planet...
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun
It is named after the Roman god of war
The landmass of Mars is very similar to Earth but due to the difference in gravity you could jump three times higher there than you can here
Mars is mountainous and hosts the tallest mountain known in the Solar System called Olympus Mons, which is three times higher than Everest
Mars is considered to be the second most habitable planet after Earth
It takes the planet 687 Earth days to orbit the Sun
The planet has a diameter of 4,212 miles, and has an average distance from Earth of 140 million miles
Martian temperatures can vary wildly, reaching as high as 70F/20C or as low as -225F/-153C
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Irish Sun
7 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
Nasa trials TINY supersonic ‘Son of Concorde' for 925mph flight in tunnel – but prototype airplane measures just inches
NASA researchers have been using a tiny aircraft dubbed "Son of Concorde" in trials to assess the impact of supersonic flights on residents. The tests took place in a wind tunnel in Japan measuring just 3ft by 3ft. 1 The tiny 'Son of Concorde' undergoes tests in a wind tunnel in Japan At present there is a The latest tests come after President Trump ordered the Federal Aviation Administration to scrap a longstanding ban on supersonic air travel across the US. He wants to replace it with a to-be-determined set of regulations that will allow faster-than-sound travel so long as the In an executive order signed in June, Trump directed the FAA administrator to begin the process of repealing a section of the Code of Federal Regulations that prohibits anyone in the United States from flying a civilian aircraft 'at a true flight Mach number greater than 1'. Read more in Tech That regulation was imposed in April 1973, at a time when the British and French governments were jointly developing Engineers from Nasa and the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) completed the fresh round of supersonic testing using a miniature version of Nasa's X-59 quiet-supersonic experimental aircraft in the trials. Vid shows supersonic test launch in bid for 1hr cross-Atlantic flights in 5yrs The campaign was conducted at JAXA's facility in Chofu, Tokyo. It assessed how the aircraft's pressure signature, audible on the ground as a sonic 'thump,' will reach people beneath its flight path. Most read in Tech The X-59 demonstrator measures 99.7ft in length with a 29.7-ft wingspan, but the Chofu tunnel could only accommodate the miniature model, which is just 1.62% of the real jet. Engineers nevertheless subjected the replica to airflow conditions representing the aircraft's planned cruise of Mach 1.4 – about 925 miles per hour. By comparing the wind-tunnel data with detailed Computational Fluid Dynamics predictions, Nasa can validate how air will wrap around the jet's slender fuselage and long, highly swept wing. Critically, it will also show how its shock waves are expected to behave. Unlike conventional supersonic airplanes, whose shock waves combine into a single, ground-shaking blast, the X-59's carefully sculpted nose and chine are intended to separate those waves. The goal is a brief, low-volume 'sonic thump' rather than an ear-splitting boom, opening the door to overland supersonic passenger flight, reports Interest Engineering. The Chofu tests mark the third time the model has entered a wind tunnel, following earlier runs at JAXA and NASA's Glenn Research Center in Ohio. Researchers delivered 'critical experimental data to compare to…predictions", Nasa noted. The X-59 is the centerpiece of NASA's Quesst mission, an effort to prove that quiet supersonic flight is technically and socially viable. Once airborne, the jet will make a series of community overflights across the United States so researchers can gauge how residents react to its muted acoustic footprint. Their feedback, combined with the aerodynamic and acoustic data now being amassed in wind tunnels and ground tests, will inform regulators as they consider lifting the decades-old ban on supersonic flight over land. A short history of Concorde – from Live Aid to sonic booms Concorde was used 40 years ago this week to allow superstar drummer Phil Collins to perform at Two decades ago the Concorde took its last-ever flight. It became supersonic in 1969, flying passengers from New York to London in less than three hours. It was the only aircraft in the British Airways fleet that required a flight engineer. Concorde needed unsustainable amounts of fuel and created very loud sonic booms. Then, in July 2000, a horror accident saw 113 people killed when an Air France Concorde ran over a small piece of metal while taking off from Charles de Gaulle Airport. It caused the tyre to explode and the engine to ignite. A year after the horrific crash, 9/11 majorly affected passenger numbers. Ultimately a combination of these events led to its downfall. By 2003, Air France and British Airways announced they would be retiring their fleet of Concorde planes.
The Irish Sun
7 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
Biggest black hole merger EVER detected has created terrifying ‘monster' that's 225 times as massive as our Sun
SCIENTISTS have discovered the biggest black hole merger e ver recorded, as two massive spacetime ripples spiral into each other. The monstrous collision occurred on the outskirts of our Milky Way galaxy, and produced a black hole roughly 225 times more massive than the sun. Advertisement 3 Aerial shot of the advanced LIGO gravitational detector in Livingston, Louisiana - one of the four LVK Collaboration detectors Credit: Alamy Before now, the most massive black hole merger had a total mass of 140 suns. The new collision event, dubbed GW231123, was found by the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA (LVK) Collaboration - a group of four detectors that identify cataclysmic cosmic events. Each black hole was roughly 100 to 140 times the mass of our Sun before they combined. "This is the most massive black hole binary we've observed through gravitational waves, and it presents a real challenge to our understanding of black hole formation," Mark Hannam, of Cardiff University and a member of the LVK Collaboration, said in a Advertisement READ MORE ON SPACE "Black holes this massive are forbidden through standard stellar evolution models. "One possibility is that the two black holes in this binary formed through earlier mergers of smaller black holes." Evidence of the GW231123 event was discovered in late 2023, when two slight distortions in spacetime were spotted by laser detectors in Louisiana and Washington. 3 The black holes are moving so fast they are too difficult to properly analyse Credit: Alamy Advertisement The signal that arrived at the detectors was coming from two high-mass black holes that were spinning rapidly - meaning they were hard to analyse. Most read in Science Charlie Hoy, of the University of Portsmouth and also a member of the LVK, explained: "The black holes appear to be spinning very rapidly - near the limit allowed by Einstein's theory of general relativity. "That makes the signal difficult to model and interpret. "It's an excellent case study for pushing forward the development of our theoretical tools." Advertisement Horrifying black hole simulation shows what 'spaghettification' looks like when objects fall into 'extreme slurp' Researchers say they need to observe more similar, high-spin mergers to better calculate just how massive this most recent black hole merger is. Gregorio Carullo, of the University of Birmingham and a member of the LVK, noted: "It will take years for the community to fully unravel this intricate signal pattern and all its implications. "Despite the most likely explanation remaining a black hole merger, more complex scenarios could be the key to deciphering its unexpected features." The researchers are set to present their findings at the Advertisement Black holes are formed through the collapse of massive stars or through the merging of smaller black holes. Known black holes currently fall into just two categories: stellar-mass black holes, which range from a few to a few dozen times the Sun's mass; and supermassive black holes, which can be anywhere from about 100,000 to 50 billion times as massive as the Sun. Intermediate-mass black holes fall into the gap of these two mass ranges and are physically unable to form from direct star collapse and are incredibly rare. Astrophysicists reckon these rare types of black holes grow from merging with others that are similar in size - like our most recent collision event. Advertisement 3 Researchers say they need to observe more similar, high-spin mergers to better calculate just how massive this most recent black hole merger is Credit: Alamy What is a black hole? The key facts Here's what you need to know... A black hole is a region of space where absolutely nothing can escape That's because they have extremely strong gravitational effects, which means once something goes into a black hole, it can't come back out They get their name because even light can't escape once it's been sucked in – which is why a black hole is completely dark What is an event horizon? There has to be a point at which you're so close to a black hole you can't escape Otherwise, literally everything in the universe would have been sucked into one The point at which you can no longer escape from a black hole's gravitational pull is called the event horizon The event horizon varies between different black holes, depending on their mass and size What is a singularity? The gravitational singularity is the very centre of a black hole It's a one-dimensional point that contains an incredibly large mass in an infinitely small space At the singularity, space-time curves infinitely, and the gravitational pull is infinitely strong Conventional laws of physics stop applying at this point How are black holes created? Most black holes are made when a supergiant star dies This happens when stars run out of fuel – like hydrogen – to burn, causing the star to collapse When this happens, gravity pulls the centre of the star inwards quickly and collapses into a tiny ball It expands and contracts until one final collapse, causing part of the star to collapse inwards thanks to gravity, and the rest of the star to explode outwards The remaining central ball is extremely dense, and if it's especially dense, you get a black hole
The Irish Sun
11 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
Nasa uncovers ‘Super Earth' planet flashing with mysterious repeating signal just 154 lightyears away
NASA has uncovered a new 'Super Earth' planet just 154-lightyears away that has been flashing a mysterious signal. The planet appears to be almost twice as wide as our planet, and roughly four times heavier. 1 Nasa's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) Credit: Nasa Earlier this year, Nasa's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) captured a repetitive flicker of starlight . The dimming pattern, captured by TESS, occurred in March of each year. Tracing it back, scientists stumbled across a 'Super Earth', dubbed TOI‑1846 b, hiding in the northern constellation Lyra . The planet has a size and weight combination that suggests it falls into the so-called 'radius gap'. READ MORE ON NASA This a rare category between small, rocky planets like Earth and larger, gas-rich planets like Neptune. Based on this, scientists believe the newly discovered world may have a layer of dense ice underneath, topped by a thin atmosphere - or maybe even a shallow ocean. Despite an estimated surface temperature of 300C (600F), researchers say the planet may still hold water. This is because TOI‑1846 b is likely tidally locked - meaning one side always faces its star while the other remains in darkness. Most read in Science Water, therefore, may be trapped in the cooler, darker regions, according to scientists. Although it depends on how heat moves through its atmosphere. Best-ever sign of ALIEN life found on distant planet as scientists '99.7% sure of astounding biological activity signal' Given the scorching temperatures, alien life is unlikely to be found on the planet. Working with observers on four continents, researcher Abderahmane Soubkiou and colleagues at the Oukaimeden Observatory in Morocco confirmed the existence of the exoplanet. 'We have validated TOI‑1846 b using TESS and multicolor ground‑based photometric data, high‑resolution imaging, and spectroscopic observations,' Soubkiou wrote at the end of the team's announcement. Their measurements show the planet orbits its star in just under four days. TESS scans the sky every 30 minutes with four high-sensitivity cameras, making it the ideal tool for spotting shallow light dips like those from TOI-1846 b. Each dip in the light from its neighboring star, a Red Dwarf, is caused when the planet passes in front of it from the perspective of Earth. Because the star is faint, each transit of TOI‑1846 b subtracts only a few hundredths of a percent of its light - but TESS is built for picking up such slight flickers. But different tools are needed to learn more about the possibly rocky, water-featuring world. The team noted that the MAROON‑X instrument on Gemini North in Hawai'i can verify the planet's mass and uncover any hidden sibling planets lurking in the shadows. Nasa scientists hope they can secure time with the James Webb Space Telescope and target TOI-1846 b to study its atmosphere using infrared light. The $10 billion telescope discovered its first-ever exoplanet just last month, but has been used to analyse others on its journey through space. All you need to know about planets in our solar system Our solar system is made up of nine planets with Earth the third closest to the Sun. But each planet has its own quirks, so find out more about them all... How old is How many moons does What colour is How far away is How big is How many moons does Does How many moons does How big is How hot is the
