Orbiter Spots "Spiders" on Surface of Mars

Yahoo— 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

Yahoo—Satellite spots spider-like formations on Mars. The European Space Agency (ESA) has announced that the 'spiders' spotted by the agency’s Mars orbiter are actually geological features. When sunlight mixes with carbon dioxide, it triggers the release of gases that fracture ice, allowing dust to reach the surface and form spider-like figures. According to scientists, these figures are not small and measure anywhere from around 50 yards to over half a mile wide.

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

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...