Recently, the high-resolution stereo camera (HRSC) on ESA's Mars Express has captured a magical scene on Mars, the center of the image is located at 300°E/79°S on Mars, and from the top view, it can be seen that there are dense black spots on the surface of Mars, like countless spiders crawling on the ground, this phenomenon has not been reported in any corner of the earth, which is really puzzling.
Giant "spiders" on Mars
In fact, as early as 2018, the NASA Mars reconnaissance orbiter also obtained similar images at the south pole of Mars, these giant black spots lying on the surface of Mars, like bulging blood vessels and spiders lying on the ground, and then this phenomenon aroused the keen interest of astronomers around the world.
These giant "spiders" have a distinct and unique form. They usually start at a central point and extend outwards into elongated, radial branches that resemble spider webs on Earth. Some of these branching lines are straight, while others are slightly curved, making the whole structure look more vivid and complex.
These "spider" structures also have a certain scale. According to observational data, some giant "spiders" can reach several kilometers or even larger in diameter, and such giant structures make them appear particularly prominent and striking on the surface of Mars.
In addition, the form of these giant "spiders" will also change "visibly", some will disappear in a short time, while others will change in size and shape as the seasons change on the surface of Mars.
What exactly is a giant "spider"?
Through in-depth research by scientists, these giant black spots are not living organisms, because the surface of Mars does not have the basic conditions for the existence of life, in fact, these giant "spiders" are terrain structures formed by the special environmental conditions of Mars, specifically the unique terrain formed by the carbon dioxide ice cap around the south pole of Mars, known as "spider-like terrain".
When Mars enters spring and the sun begins to return to the Antarctic region, sunlight hits the carbon dioxide ice cap, causing the dry ice (the solid form of carbon dioxide) under the ice cap to begin to sublimate, that is, to transform directly from solid to gas. As the temperature increases, the dry ice at the bottom is constantly sublimating into a gas and carrying dark dust particles.
Over time, more and more carbon dioxide accumulated from the "trapped" below the surface, and the pressure on the rock or ice covered by the surface increased, eventually breaking through the surface and forming an eruption, which ejected the accumulated carbon dioxide and released it into the air with dust and debris.
These dust-laden gases eject through cracks in the ice and then fall back to the surface of Mars, creating the dark spots we see. These spots are joined together to form a spider's web-like structure, giving it the characteristics of a "spider" on a macroscopic scale.
Does the existence of giant "spiders" mean that Mars is not "dead"?
The presence of the Martian "spider" does provide strong evidence that Mars is still a "living star". The geological features of these "spider" forms are not static and unchanging landscapes, but are a direct manifestation of the dynamic geological activity and climate change on the surface of Mars.
These "spiders" are formed by the carbon dioxide ice cap in the South Pole region of Mars that sublimates dry ice and carries dark dust particles to the surface of Mars after being exposed to sunlight in the spring. This process itself is a direct manifestation of Martian climate activity, suggesting that Martian atmospheric and surface processes are still actively underway.
These "spider" structures are not set in stone. As the seasons change, the process of sublimation and deposition of carbon dioxide causes their form and size to change. This variability is further evidence that geological activity on the surface of Mars is still ongoing, and not a planet that has "died".
In addition, other geological phenomena on Mars, such as volcanic activity (although there are no eruptions on Mars at present, the activity of magma below the strata still exists), crustal movements, and possibly groundwater activity, also indicate that Mars still has a certain degree of geological activity. While these activities may be far less intense and frequent than on Earth, they do prove that Mars is a planet that is still "alive".