Researchers at the University of Arizona have released a new image of Mars’ giant canyon taken with NASA’s HiRISE camera aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. These images were captured in an attempt to determine the origin of the gorge.
The Valles Marineris Gorge on Mars is about ten times longer and five times deeper than the Grand Canyon found here on earth, making it the largest gorge in the entire solar system. Although impressive, scientists were unsure about how the gorge formed, using the HiRISE camera to capture and study images of the Valles Marineris gorge in an attempt to determine its origin.
A leading theory is that magma was torn open by magma billions of years ago. The image below, published by the University of Arizona as part of ongoing research, apparently supports the belief that the gorge was further formed by ice melting in rivers.
None of this research would be possible without the HiRISE camera, which is a massive 143-pound camera that is about five feet by two feet in size. According to Popular science, it has the ability to dissolve something as large as a kitchen table in a shot from Mars’ surface 3.5 miles wide.
Images as above are captured using the camera’s high-resolution zoom capability to take a closer look at different parts of the planet to see patterns and variations in the surface that help scientists determine answers to difficult questions. The researchers, for example, noticed angular ‘slashes’ in the surface that could indicate freezing and thawing cycles. Small details like these, made visible only thanks to the HiRISE, are important for the continued study of Mars and to determine if life could ever survive on the red planet.
(via popular science)
Image credits: Photos shared via public domain courtesy of NASA / JPL / University of Arizona.