#photo | New satellite images of ancient Martian rivers

Modern Mars is an extremely dry and dusty place with low temperature. However, judging by the numerous photos of its surface, once upon a time it was full of various lakes and rivers. This fact proved once again pictures taken by orbiting spacecraft of the European space Agency’s Mars Express. It clearly shows the traces of an ancient river chain, which is about four million years ago, crossing the Martian landscape.

Поверхность Марса

Photos were taken in the southern highlands of Mars, is covered with many craters and an extensive network of valleys. Judging by the terrain, the water that formed these bumps trickled down from North to South (these pictures show a right-to-left). The width of these valleys is from 200 meters to 2 kilometers: this is particularly evident on the topographic map, where the red marked the highest point of elevation, and blue is the lowest or in this case, the deep zone.

Поверхность Марса

The structure of the terrain resembles a modern drainage system. Most likely, the river circuit was formed during the draining of excess water from the more powerful rivers. It is believed that most of this water simply dried up under the influence of solar winds. However, there are other assumptions — for example, water can be absorbed into the surface of the planet.

This implies that Mars may still exist, but it is hidden under its shell. Regardless, it is in the liquid or frozen state, its reserves could save the life of future colonists and to facilitate their mission.

Поверхность Марса

Photographs of Mars are divided not only ESA and NASA, but “Roscosmos”. In early February, the Corporation published a panoramic photo of the Martian surface made device Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO). It has a lot of interesting details that tell about the features of the planet in the distant past — to read about them in our material.

If you have something to say about the new photos — feel free to write your opinion in the comments. To discuss science and technology with interesting people is always possible in our Telegram chat.


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