ESA Published Images Of Mars With “Creepy Spiders In The City Of The Incas”

The European Space Agency (ESA) has released new images taken by ESA’s Mars Express and ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter. They show dark clusters of dots on the Martian surface that may resemble baby spiders huddled together.

In fact, the dark spots with “paws” are funnels from the release of sublimated dry ice. In winter, the temperature on the surface of Mars drops to -123 °C. Carbon dioxide from the atmosphere forms deposits on the surface in the form of dry ice, which is well known on Earth. With the onset of spring, the temperature of the atmosphere rises, but there is no melting of ice as usual on our planet. Dry ice immediately releases gas and, upon reaching critical pressure in a confined space, an explosion occurs with the formation of a crater. The darker material from underneath the ice scatters around, forming a dark spot visible from space.

With “spider legs” – radial formations near the funnels – everything is even more interesting. In reality, these are cracks under the surface of the ice. They are revealed thanks to the multispectral sensitivity of the CaSSIS camera. In the optical range, cracks are not visible.