An ice fall on Mars

2008/05/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Astronomia

NASA satellite Mars Reconnaisance Orbiter received last February 19 ice falls or materials at the north pole of Mars. Dust clouds generated by falling materials (presumably ice, solid CO2, dust and stones) can _be seen from a precipice of more than seven hundred meters. On the ravine (to the left of the image) you can see the still frozen layer of carbon dioxide (blank). As spring progresses, it disappears.

This is the first time that such a phenomenon has occurred through cameras. In fact, most of the images of Mars that are collected belong to very little altered areas in millions of years. From time to time, at different times of the year, they take pictures of the same place and see how it changes from one station to another, but until now they did not see this type of events closely.