Image of the dense layer of ash covering Utopia Planitia, on Mars, captured by the Mars Express probe.
Mars isn’t that still. “Giant shadow” has haunted the Red Planet for at least 50 years.
One dark spot of large dimensions on the surface of Mars has been expanding for several decades without scientists yet being able to concretely explain the cause of the phenomenon.
The strange formation in question is located in , a vast basin in the northern Martian hemisphere, and was first photographed in 1976 by NASA’s Viking 2 probe, according to .
Latest probe images Mars Expressfrom the European Space Agency, released in 2024, show that parts of the spot have moved about 320 kilometers to the south. It’s a change considered unusually rapid on a planet generally seen as — geologically — little active.
Despite the disturbing aspect, the researchers immediately ruled out any extraordinary hypothesis, such as the presence of an unknown organism. The stain will be composed of dark material rich in volcanic mineralsincluding olivine and pyroxene, traces of ancient eruptions from a time when Mars was much more active.
The main unknown, therefore, is not the composition of the material, but rather the reason why it appears to be spreading.
One of the hypotheses points to the action of Martian windswhich could be redistributing volcanic ash across the surface. Another possibility is that these same winds are removing the light dust that covers the ground, leaving darker layers of volcanic origin exposed.
Although today it is a cold, dry and apparently inert planet, the red giant continues to be subject to dynamic processes. Its surface can change over time due to the action of the atmosphere, even without significant geological activity, which, for scientists, is curious, and a reminder that Mars is still a mysterious world.
