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These Martian " kidney noodle " are n’t safe to eat : they ’re really flash-frozen moxie sand dune in Mars ' northern hemisphere . Arecently free photobyNASA ’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter ( MRO ) shows a top - down horizon of the frosty legume lookalikes , take to help scientists determine if shape on the Red Planet could have sustained life history a farseeing time ago .
In the photo , taken in Sept. 2022 and publicly released in Dec. 2024 , the dunes come out surprisingly static . sand dune on bothMarsand Earth usually transmigrate as flatus pick up grains of grit from one side of a sand dune and shake off them off at another , make comeuppance look like slow - move sea . However , the sand dune in the photo are cover in a layer of atomic number 6 dioxide icing during the northern hemisphere wintertime on Mars . The rime stop wind from scooping up sand , preventing the dunes from transmigrate until the spring thaw comes .
Frozen sand dunes sit locked in place in Mars' northern hemisphere, stuck until the spring thaw melts their icy shells
Traces of ancient water?
Pictures of Robert Frost - covered sand dune assist scientists learn whether water ever existed on the satellite ’s surface for long enough for life-time to develop and come through on Mars Even though the Robert Frost is made from carbon dioxide , not water , it still charm the betting odds that Mars had water for recollective period in the past .
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The amount of carbon dioxide on Mars variegate reckon on how the planet is angled relative tothe sunshine . Earth careen just a bit as it spin on a slightly - tilted bloc , and this gives us unlike seasons . But Mars ' axile tilt wobbles a lot over the course of millions of years , drastically change its seasons . When Mars is tilted far enough , carbon dioxide ice turns into gun on a big scale — enough to give the whole planet a thick atmosphere . This thicker atmospheric state might have been enough to support liquid water over retentive periods .
With a good intellect of how carbon dioxide frost add up and snuff it under current conditions on Mars , scientists can make better predictions ofthe retiring clime on Mars . read how the frost vary with the seasons can also help scientists recognize geological formations because of carbon dioxide , let out more details about the planet ’s shifting climate . If there were periods of time when the climate supported stable fluid water , there ’s a big possibility that Mars could have supported microbic life — and it might even still be hiding somewhere .
