While Santa is getting ready Christmas on Earth angels get into the holiday mood at the North Pole of the earth The South Pole of Mars. A spacecraft has seen an “angelic figure” and a large heart at the South Pole of Mars just a week before Christmas.
This week, the European Space Agency’s high-resolution stereo camera from the European Space Agency’s Mars Express captured the “defined wings of an angelic figure, complete with halo,” as well as a large heart next to it. The pair of festive silhouettes look bright red, in stark contrast to the light brown color of the Martian sand that surrounds them.
Björn Schreiner 2020 @ FU Berlin
According to the space agency, the dark color is due to the composition of the sand dunes, which are made up of minerals that are also found on Earth, such as pyroxene and olivine.
The South Pole itself, which is currently experiencing summer, is to the right of the ethereal scene, just off the frame. During the Martian winter, the region is said to be covered by a mile thick and 250 miles wide ice sheet, but right now the ice stores are at the lowest annual level.
Officials said the angel’s hand, which appears to be reaching to the left, may be a large sublimation pit – a depression in the planet’s surface that forms when ice turns to gas in the summer months.
Björn Schreiner 2020 @ FU Berlin
The angel’s head and halo appear to have been formed when a celestial body hit the planet, revealing subterranean layers that provide a glimpse into Mars’ long history. The heart is the result of a row of cliffs created by erosion.
The picturesque landscape also includes Mars dust devils to the left of the figure. Dust devils, which are common on the red planet, form as strong wind that feeds dust from the surface.
The South Pole of Mars has been in the spotlight in recent months after scientists discovered it three new underground lakes – and the possibility of many more – that point to the potential of microbial life.