Scientists seem to have understood what a mysterious object of regular geometric shape, photographed on a neighboring planet, is.
Astronomy Picture of the Day was considered by NASA experts to be a “hole in Mars” (A Hole in Mars), as they call such a strange object that looks like a giant toilet bowl. And in their god they finally explained what it really is.
The mysterious hole appeared in color. And very clearly. Which actually allowed us to understand its nature.
The object was first seen in a picture taken in 2011 from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) automatic station, orbiting the Red Planet. In the low-resolution photo, it appears as a regular cone with a round platform at the top.
The object looked like a cone with a circular platform at the top.
The "Cone" was located in the vicinity of the Pavonis Mons volcano, located near the equator of Mars and looked completely awkward in the middle of the snow-covered expanses - a kind of foreign body. From a height (262 kilometers) it looked like an artificial structure - a glass dome shining in the sun.
The object was photographed again using a high-resolution camera - HiRISE. In an enlarged form, it no longer resembled the creation of alien hands. But he continued to amaze. Scientists have seen that the "dome" is actually upside down. And it is a huge funnel with absolutely smooth edges. What looked like the top turned out to be the bottom - a hole at the very bottom. What made the object look like a giant toilet bowl or a washbasin.
Clear pictures made it possible to see that the cone is a funnel.
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Experts have estimated the size of the "toilet". According to Shane Byrne of the University of Arizona, which is responsible for the HiRISE camera, the hole at the bottom is 35 meters in diameter and the funnel at the top is about 200 meters in diameter.
In the end, it was possible to see that the hole leads into a certain cavity - you can see its bottom, to which about 30 meters.
It seems, experts believe, that the hole was made in a so-called lava tube - a cavity that was once formed by lava - molten rock that poured out during a volcanic eruption. It flowed, solidifying from above. At the same time, the main volume of lava continued to move, leaving an empty space behind it. A kind of tunnel.
The funnel is located at the foot of a giant volcano (marked with a light rectangle slightly to the right in the upper part of the image.
The hole, of course, could have been pierced by a meteorite. In this case, the cone should be considered a crater. But why is he so flat? Or is it not a crater, but the snow just slipped into the hole? Or was it sucked in there? By the way, traces are visible along the edges of the funnel, which may indicate that the process continues. But where did the hole come from then?
The mystery has not been fully solved, skeptics believe. And they are awaiting further clarification.
The funnel is located at the foot of a giant volcano (marked with a light rectangle slightly to the right in the upper part of the image.
VLADIMIR LAGOVSKY