There is still so much we do not know about Mars, but thanks to some recently released photos, we took a much better look at the Red Planet’s equivalent of the Grand Canyon. Although, this is not exactly accurate: the one on Mars – called Valles Marineris – is almost ten times as long and three times as deep as ours on Earth. And although scientists do not yet know how the gorge came into being, this new images of ongoing research at the University of Arizona (UA) in Tucson offers some more clues. Here’s how to look at the outside of this world (sorry) photos.
What makes this gorge so special?
Actually, these are two things: it is massive and mysterious. Per Space.com:
This system of deep, expansive gorges, known as Valles Marineris, runs more than 4,000 km (4,000 km) along the Mars equator and extends over nearly a quarter of the planet’s circumference. This gorge in the mountain rock of Mars is almost ten times as long as the Earth’s Grand Canyon and three times deeper, making it the largest single gorge in the solar system and … one of the most mysterious.
Given how hot and dry it is on Mars, scientists do not think Valles was a Marineris carved out by running water, such as the Grand Canyon. Although, researchers from the European Space Agency (ESA) said there was evidence that flowing water could have deepened some of the canyon’s existing canals – even if it had been hundreds of millions of years ago.
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How to see the new images of the gorge on Mars
This is the latest photos released using an incredible high-resolution camera called HiRISE (short for High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment) aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. To view this or any of the other photos of the canyon (or taken from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter), visit the University of Arizona on the Tucson HiRISE website.