Trees on Mars'
London, Jan 13 : A Mars probe has baffled NASA scientists by sending images of what look like trees on the red planet.
The images show rows of dark conifer type trees emerging from Martian hills.
However, the scene is an incredible optical illusion.
What is seen are sand dunes covered with a thin layer of frozen carbon dioxide (dry ice) less than 240 miles from Mars north pole.
The "trees" are actually trails of debris caused by landslides when the ice melts in spring.
The photo was taken by HiRISE, the most powerful camera sent to another planet.
"The streaks are sand, dislodged as ice evaporates, which slide down the dune," the Sun quoted NASA's Candy Hansen, as saying.
"At this time of the martian year the whole scene is covered by CO2 frost," Hansen added.
Copyright Asian News International (ANI)
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http://cristiannegureanu.blogspot.com/2010/01/sun-leaf-on-mars.html
By » Bibi on 2010-01-14 18:09:00