Mystery Martian Channel Appears After 3 Years

This pair of before (left) and after (right) images from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter documents the formation of a substantial new channel on a Martian slope between Nov. 5, 2010, and May 25, 2013. The location is on the inner wall of a crater at 37.45 degrees south latitude, 222.95 degrees east longitude, in the Terra Sirenum region. Image released 2014 March 19. (Image Source: NASA)

By Mike Wall

A NASA spacecraft has spotted a big gully on Mars, a feature that appears to have formed only within the last three years.

The powerful HiRISE camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) imaged the channel, which is found on the slope of a crater wall in the Red Planet's mid-southern latitudes, on May 25, 2013. The feature was not present in HiRISE photos of the area taken on Nov. 5, 2010. NASA unveiled the image on Wednesday (March 19).

"The dates of the images are more than a full Martian year apart, so the observations did not pin down the Martian season of the activity at this site," officials wrote in a description of the gully image on Wednesday.

More - Link >>> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/21/mars-gully-nasa-orbiter_n_5006188.html

Sources: Space.com , Huffington Post.

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