A spacecraft captured images of "spiders" on the surface of Mars. Here's what they really are.

CBS News— A unique phenomenon that could be mistaken for spiders scuttling across the planet's surface has been spotted on Mars, according to the European Space Agency.The ESA said in a news release that one of its Mars Express orbiter captured images of the "spiders," which are really just small, dark-colored features that begin to be formed when sunshine falls on carbon dioxide deposited during the planet's winter months. The light causes the carbon dioxide ice at the bottom of the deposits to turn into...

Yahoo—Orbiter Spots "Spiders" on Surface of Mars. Martian Creepy Crawlers The European Space Agency's Mars Express orbiter has spotted mysterious "spiders" roaming the Red Planet's southern polar region. But they're not the arachnids we've come to fear back on Earth — they're the result of a complex geological process that causes carbon dioxide to sublimate, bringing darker material from below the surface

European Space Agency—‘Spiders’ on Mars as seen by ESA’s ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter. This image shows features known as 'spiders' near Mars's south pole, as seen by the CaSSIS (Colour and Stereo Surface Imaging System) instrument aboard...

Daily Mail—there are spiders on Mars! European Space Agency's spacecrafts snap mysterious arachnid shapes on the Red Planet. Incredible new images from the European Space Agency show 'araneiforms' - also known as 'spiders from Mars'.