The MRO probe has captured images of an unusual trail of recent meteorite falls on the surface of Mars, similar to the traces of shots from a giant space shotgun, according to the website of the instrument HiRISE.
Mars, unlike Earth, Venus and several moons of the giant planets, is devoid of a thick atmosphere, because of this, its surface can be bombarded almost unhindered by even relatively small asteroids and meteorites. From a scientific point of view, such a feature of Mars is rather a plus, since it allows you to determine the age of different regions of the planet, based on data on the erosion of craters and their total number.
Relatively recently, about ten years ago, on the surface of Mars, as the images from the MRO probe show, a group of unusual craters appeared, whose appearance is very similar to the traces of a shotgun shot at the planet. Photographs of these tracks were obtained by the probe using the CTX camera and its "big brother" HiRISE, which is able to distinguish structures about a meter across Mars.
Scientists believe the meteorite that created these craters in 2008-2012 was composed of loose rock. It split into several pieces as it entered the atmosphere of Mars. As a result, a dense charge of space "buckshot" appeared, which struck the Tarsis region at the equator of the red planet, moving at a very high speed from the southern hemisphere of Mars.
Now the MRO probe continues to monitor these craters to assess how quickly such traces of cosmic "shot" disappear under the sands of Mars, which cover them with dust storms and winds of the red planet.
