Beans on Mars
NASA detected frozen “red beans” in the sand dunes of Mars, which were trapped in place until spring. This discovery could help scientists figure out whether there was once enough water on Mars to support life.
Even though NASA described them as “beans”, don’t worry… they can’t eat them.
The photograph captured in September 2022, by NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), but only released in December, .
It is possible to see the surprisingly still dunes and the look-alikes of iced beans.
As explained by , dunes, both on Mars and Earth, typically migrate as the wind collects grains of sand from one side of the dune and leaves them on the other, making deserts look like seas in slow motion.
However, the dunes shown in the photograph are covered by a layer of carbon dioxide ice during the northern hemisphere winter on Mars.
A amount of carbon dioxide on Mars varies depending on the planet’s inclination in relation to the Sun – differently from our planet.
If, on the one hand, the Earth wobbles a little when it rotates on a slightly inclined axis, which gives us the four different seasons. in turn, Mars’ axial tilt fluctuates greatly over millions of years, drastically changing its seasons.
When Mars is tilted enough, carbon dioxide ice turns into gas on a large scale – enough to give the entire planet a thicker atmosphere. This thicker atmosphere may have been sufficient to support liquid water for long periods.
Studying how ice changes with the seasons can help scientists recognize geological formations caused by carbon dioxide, revealing more details about the planet’s changing climate.
If there have been periods of time when the climate supported stable liquid water, there is a great possibility that Mars could have supported microbial life – and it may even be hidden somewhere.
