Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Gullies on Mars Credit: Malin Space Science Systems, MGS, JPL, NASA The Gullies of Mars would probably not have been sensational enough for the title of a vintage Edgar Rice Burroughs story about the Red Planet. But it would get the attention of planetary scientists today. First identified in high resolution images of Mars recorded by the orbiting Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft, the gullies are interpreted as startling evidence that liquid water flowed across the martian surface in geologically recent times. Similar channels on Earth are formed by flowing water, but on Mars the temperature is normally too cold and the atmosphere too thin to sustain liquid water. Still, it is thought possible that water did burst out from underground layers and remain liquid long enough to erode the gullies, while alternative explanations suggest the erosion was produced by a flowing jumble of solid and gaseous carbon dioxide. Spanning a few kilometers along the wall of an impact crater this high resolution image from Mars Global Surveyor shows typical martian gullies near the top of the crater wall giving way to sand dunes toward the crater
Do you think that picture is authentic, wet1? In the bottom right quadrant there appears to be a head that is facing right. Do you think it might be a computer generated pre-halloween prank by NASA employees? The picture seemed a little clearer when I went went directly to the site; http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html especially around the mouth, which seemed a bit lighter and more defined.
Yes, John, it is in fact a halloween prank. The evil "corporate/science" conspirators actually do have a sense of humor. - Warren
My old telescope back home can almost give us a nice look at Mars. We do, however, get a great veiw of the moon; we can see very clear detail of the terrain, it's fantastic. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
