NASA Releases Photos of Crater on Mars That Look Like Human Fingerprints, Amazing!

INDOZONE.ID – American Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) recently released a stunning photo showing a unique crater on Mars with strange mountains that make it look like human fingerprint.

As reported Live Sciencethe crater in the photo is known as Airy-0, a 0.5 km wide basin that sits within the much larger Airy crater which is about 43.5 km.

The photo was taken on September 8, 2021, using the High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.

Then the photo was uploaded by NASA through a post on Instagram on April 11, 2022.

In 1884, astronomers initially chose the larger Airy crater to mark the prime meridian Marsthe line of zero degrees longitude where East meets West, according to NASA.

On Earth, the prime meridian is marked by the Greenwich Royal Observatory in England, which shows the boundary between the Eastern and Western hemispheres.

Airy Crater is named after British astronomer Sir George Biddell Airy, who built the telescope at Greenwich Royal Observatory that first spotted the massive chest.

Astronomers chose Airy to mark Mars’ prime meridian because it was large enough to be seen by telescopes at the time.

“But when higher resolution photos become available, a smaller feature is needed,” a NASA representative wrote on Instagram.

Scientists chose Airy-0 to replace Airy as the prime meridian marker because it was just the right size but didn’t require drastic changes to the existing map.

Airy Crater is located in a region known as Sinus Meridiani, which translates to ‘Middle Bay’.

The glowing ridges in the crater are known as transverse aeolian ridges (TARs).

Abigail Fraeman, a planetary scientist and deputy project scientist for NASA’s Curiosity rover, said TAR is a feature we commonly see in craters and other depressions on Mars.

The ridge is formed by dunes covered by a thin layer of dust. The dust covering the TAR in Airy-0 is most likely hematite, a mineral made of iron oxide that is abundant in the surrounding region and gives the soil its gray color in the photo.

Hematite dust is likely reflective that makes TAR stand out from the rest of the crater.

Other Interesting Articles:

–

–