While Santa is getting ready Christmas on Earth at the north pole of the earth, angels are entering the festive spirit South Pole of Mars. A spaceship has seen an “angelic figure” and a large heart at the Martian south pole, just a week before Christmas.
This week, the European Space Agency’s Mars Express high-resolution stereo camera captured the “defined wings of an angelic, haloed figure,” as well as a large heart next to it. The pair of festive silhouettes appear bright red, in contrast to the light brown color of the Martian sand surrounding them.
Björn Schreiner 2020 @ FU Berlin
According to the space agency, the dark color is due to the composition of sand dunes, which are made up of minerals that are also found on Earth, such as pyroxene and olivine.
The South Pole itself, which currently lives in the summer, is to the right of the ethereal scene, just outside the frame. During the Martian winter, the region would be covered with a layer of ice half a kilometer thick and 250 kilometers wide, but right now the ice warehouses are at their lowest annual levels.
Officials said the angel’s hand, which appears to be coming to the left, is possibly a large sublimation pit, a depression on the planet’s surface that forms as ice becomes gas during the summer months.
Björn Schreiner 2020 @ FU Berlin
The angel’s head and halo appear to have formed when a celestial object crashed into the planet, revealing underground layers that provide a glimpse into the long history of Mars. The heart is the result of a line of cliffs that formed due to erosion.
The picturesque landscape also features Martian dust demons to the left of the figure. Dust demons, common on the red planet, form as strong winds remove dust from the surface.
The south pole of Mars has been in the spotlight in recent months after scientists detected it three new underground lakes – and the possibility of many more – indicating the potential for the existence of microbial life.