Mysterious landmarks on Mars have been discovered by NASA
NASA has shared images of bizarre looking landmarks on Mars over the years — prompting many to debate the possibility that the Red Planet was once home to aliens.
Our fascination with Mars is one which simply refuses to die.
As one of Earth's closest neighbours and one of the more likely candidates for life - let's be honest, nobody is surviving on the gassy giants such as Jupiter and Saturn - the Red Planet remains one of the focal points in our search for a lost alien civilisation.
Often living up to its nickname, Mars often looks like a desolate red wasteland in images shared by NASA. However this hasn't stopped online sleuths from pouring over satellite imagery in hopes of finding signs of life.
And of course, anyone who looks long enough is bound to find something.
One particular image which has captured the attention of alien sleuths is the image of an 'exclamation mark' landmark on the planet.
Captured in 2011 by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), the spacecraft was able to capture the image of what appeared to be a giant exclamation mark on the Libya Montes highland area of the Mars.
Could this be finally be evidence of the long lost alien civilisation we've all been looking for? As always, it depends on who you ask.
One supporter of this theory is George J. Haas, founder of Mars research group The Cydonia Institute, who recently told MailOnline: "You don't have to be a geologist to know the difference between a rock and a sculpture."
"There's no way you can explain that keyhole formation," he continued, adding: "The natural creation of two opposing geometrically designed formations seems to go well beyond the probability of chance."
The 'exclamation mark' isn't the only landmark which Haas has flagged as suspicious over the years either, with the author highlighting images such as pyramid-like structures which were captured by astronomer Carl Sagan in 1972 as well as geometric patterns which resemble ancient cities and the infamous 'face' in the planet's Cydonia region.
However, not everyone would agree, with many scientists arguing that it is all down to a phenomena known as the 'pareidolia effect'.
A blog post from The Planetary Society has since branded the image as one of the many examples of 'pareidolia', which is the phenomenon in which humans are able to perceive shapes and patterns in completely random images.
Common examples of pareidolia include seeing faces in inanimate objects such as clouds, the face of Jesus in the Shroud of Turin, underwater 'pyramids' or 'structures' on Mars.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
James Webb telescope ups the odds that 'city-killer' asteroid 2024 YR4 will hit the moon in 2032
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has taken its final look at the potentially hazardous asteroid 2024 YR4, at least until the potentially hazardous space rock darkens Earth's cosmic doorstep again in 2028. The latest observations reveal that, while Earth faces no risk of impact from the asteroid for the foreseeable future, the moon might not be so lucky. The new observations, taken with JWST's Near-Infrared Camera in May, allowed scientists to calculate the space rock's trajectory with the greatest precision yet, according to a NASA statement. The new predictions suggest there's a 4.3% chance that asteroid 2024 YR4 will collide with the moon on Dec. 22, 2032 — up from the 3.8% odds of a lunar impact reported after JWST initially imaged the space rock in March. "As data comes in, it is normal for the impact probability to evolve," NASA representatives wrote in the statement. "NASA expects to make further observations when the asteroid's orbit around the Sun brings it back into the vicinity of Earth in 2028. " Asteroid 2024 YR4 is a building-size space rock measuring between 174 and 220 feet (53 to 67 meters) in diameter — about as wide as the Leaning Tower of Pisa is tall. If an asteroid this size were to impact Earth, it could wipe out a city with the equivalent force of 500 Hiroshima bombs, Live Science previously reported. (Again, there is no risk of an Earth impact anytime in the foreseeable future.) The asteroid was first discovered in December 2024, when astronomers realized that its orbit around the sun routinely crosses Earth's. Early projections of its trajectory revealed a potential collision course with Earth in 2032, with the odds of an impact peaking at 3.1% in February. Further observations with JWST and ground-based telescopes soon helped scientists hone the rock's trajectory, bringing the odds of an Earth impact down to zero. Related: NASA's most wanted: The 5 most dangerous asteroids to Earth At the same time, the chances of the meaty space rock striking the moon have steadily climbed. Given the rock's size, a collision with the moon would create a new crater but would not be devastating to Earth's satellite. In fact, some scientists are welcoming it as a valuable exercise in asteroid impact prediction. RELATED STORIE —An 'invisible threat': Swarm of hidden 'city killer' asteroids around Venus could one day collide with Earth, simulations show —US Representatives worry Trump's NASA budget plan will make it harder to track dangerous asteroids —'City-killer' asteroid that might hit moon has 'unexpected' shape, astronomers say "We've got our fingers crossed for a moon impact," Alan Fitzsimmons, a physics and math professor at Queen's University Belfast in the U.K. who was not involved in the JWST observations, told New Scientist in March. "It would have no effect on Earth, but would allow us to study the formation of a lunar crater by a known asteroid for the very first time."The asteroid is currently blazing toward the outer solar system, beyond the view of Earth-based telescopes. Astronomers took advantage of JWST's emergency stockpile of discretionary observation time to view the asteroid twice — first in April and then in May. NASA has not yet confirmed whether JWST will be one of the telescopes to observe the asteroid again when it makes its next approach to Earth and the moon in 2028.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Apollo astronauts discovered the moon is covered in tiny orange glass beads. Now we finally know why.
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. When Apollo astronauts first set foot on the lunar surface, they expected to find grey rocks and dust. What they didn't anticipate was discovering something that looked almost magical: tiny, brilliant orange glass beads scattered across the Moon's landscape like microscopic gems. These beads, each smaller than a grain of sand, are actually ancient time capsules from when the Moon was volcanically active billions of years ago. The beads formed some 3.3 to 3.6 billion years ago during volcanic eruptions on the surface of the then, young satellite. The story of these glass beads begins with explosive volcanic activity that would have been spectacular to witness. The beads formed when lunar volcanoes shot material from the interior to the surface, where each drop of lava solidified instantly in the cold vacuum that surrounds the moon. Picture volcanic eruptions similar to Hawaii's famous lava fountains, but happening in the airless environment of space. Without an atmosphere to slow them down or weather to erode them, these tiny glass spheres have remained pristine for over three billion years. For fifty years, these samples sat in laboratories waiting for technology to catch up with scientific curiosity. "They're some of the most amazing extraterrestrial samples we have, the beads are tiny, pristine capsules of the lunar interior" Ryan Ogliore, an associate professor of physics at Washington University in St. Louis. Now, researchers have finally been able to peer inside the beads using advanced microscopic techniques that didn't exist during the Apollo era. The research team used multiple cutting edge tools including high energy ion beams and electron microscopy to analyse the beads without damaging them. They had to be extremely careful to protect the samples from Earth's atmosphere, which could alter the ancient minerals on their surfaces. What makes these beads so scientifically valuable is that they come in different colours and compositions, telling different chapters of the Moon's volcanic story. Some beads are shiny orange, others are glossy black, and each variety reveals information about different types of eruptions that occurred over millions of years. The minerals and isotopic composition of the bead surfaces serve as probes into the different pressure, temperature and chemical environment of lunar eruptions 3.5 billion years ago. Scientists discovered that the style of volcanic activity changed over time, providing insights into how the Moon's interior evolved. RELATED STORIES —Is the moon still geologically active? Evidence says it's possible —China signs deal with Russia to build a power plant on the moon — potentially leaving the US in the dust —China is sharing priceless moon samples with international partners, but NASA can't be a part of it As Ogliore poetically described it, analyzing these beads is "like reading the journal of an ancient lunar volcanologist." Each tiny sphere contains clues about conditions deep inside the Moon during an era when our solar system was still young and dynamic. These glass beads remind us that the Moon wasn't always the quiet, inactive world we see today. Billions of years ago, it was a geologically active place with explosive volcanoes creating these beautiful, microscopic windows into lunar history that continue to reveal their secrets to modern science. The original version of this article was published on Universe Today.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
SpaceX, NASA target June 19 for launch of private Ax-4 astronauts after ISS leak repairs
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Axiom Space's next astronaut launch is back on the board, at least for now. That mission, Ax-4, is Axiom's fourth crewed flight to the International Space Station (ISS). It was slated to launch atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on June 11, but a liquid oxygen leak discovered in the booster delayed things by a day. That was followed by the detection of another leak, but this time at Ax-4's orbital destination. Cosmonauts aboard the ISS recently spotted a "new pressure signature" in Zvezda, the Russian service module at the aftmost end of the space station. Zvezda has been leaky for a while, but this change in pressure prompted another delay in the Ax-4 launch out of an abundance of caution. That delay, which NASA and Axiom announced on June 12, was indefinite; no new target date was identified. Zvezda first sprang a leak in 2019, and the module has been managed periodically with pressure checks and maintained with whatever is the space equivalent of Flex Tape. Now, it seems the appropriate repairs have been effectuated, and NASA's worry about the potential risk to incoming crew has subsided enough for the agency and Axiom to announce a new tentative launch date — this Thursday (June 19). "Following the most-recent repair, pressure in the transfer tunnel has been stable. Previously, pressure in this area would have dropped. This could indicate the small leaks have been sealed," NASA wrote in a June 14 update. However, the space agency isn't taking the initial results as definitive. "Teams are also considering the stable pressure could be the result of a small amount of air flowing into the transfer tunnel across the hatch seal from the main part of space station," officials wrote in the update. "By changing pressure in the transfer tunnel and monitoring over time, teams are evaluating the condition of the transfer tunnel and the hatch seal between the space station and the back of Zvezda." The fixes to the leaky Falcon 9 first stage, on the other hand, are more definitive. That booster, designated B1094, is one of the newer ones in SpaceX's fleet, with only one previous launch under its belt. The rocket stage supported the Starlink 12-10 mission at the end of April, and apparently showed signs of a leak during that flight as well. SpaceX's vice president of build and flight reliability, Bill Gerstenmaier, told reporters during a June 9 press conference that technicians "discovered that we had not fully repaired the booster during refurbishment — or we didn't, actually, didn't find the leak and didn't get it corrected." But the repairs are complete now. SpaceX announced on June 12 that it has completed a new "wet dress rehearsal," or fueling test, with the rocket, and the launch vehicle is ready for the Ax-4 liftoff. Related stories: — Axiom Space: Building the off-Earth economy — International Space Station: Everything you need to know about the orbital laboratory — Top 'safety risk' for the ISS is a leak that has been ongoing for 5 years, NASA audit finds Now, mission operators and crew are working toward an early morning June 19 liftoff. Launch is scheduled for 4:53 a.m. EDT (0853 GMT), from Launch Complex-39A, at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Aboard a brand-new SpaceX Crew Dragon atop the Falcon 9, Axiom's director of human spaceflight and former NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson will serve as mission commander for Ax-4. The other three crew members are Shubhanshu Shukla of India, serving as mission pilot, and Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski and Tibor Kapu, from Poland and Hungary, respectfully, both serving as mission specialists. It will be the first time astronauts from India, Poland or Hungary have ever visited the ISS, and their mission will bring more research experiments to the ISS than any previous Axiom flight, totaling more than 60 science investigations and STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) outreach events.
