Mysterious Skull-Shaped Formation Found On Mars By NASA
Scientists find it fascinating because it doesn’t blend in at all with its surroundings.
Exploring space is often filled with surprises, some fascinating and others puzzling. Recently, NASA shared one of these puzzling discoveries when its Perseverance rover stumbled upon a rock formation on the surface of Mars that eerily resembles a skull.
Dubbed "Skull Hill," this unusual rock was discovered as Perseverance navigated Witch Hazel Hill, an area along the ridge of Jezero Crater. What sets Skull Hill apart is how strikingly different it looks compared to the surrounding landscape. The rest of the Martian terrain around it is dusty, relatively smooth, and light in color.
Skull Hill, however, is notably dark, covered with small pits, and has an angular surface that immediately caught scientists' attention. This stark contrast raised questions among researchers.
The central curiosity is whether Skull Hill originated in its current location or might have traveled elsewhere. Erosion and meteorite impacts are common on Mars, and either of these could have shifted the rock from its original site.
Margaret Deahn, a Ph.D. student at Purdue University, discussed the discovery on NASA’s website. She noted how Skull Hill stands out because of its darker tone, pitted surface, and unique structure.
Margaret highlighted the significance by writing: "This float rock uniquely contrasts the surrounding light-toned outcrop with its dark tone and angular surface, and it features a few pits in the rock. If you look closely, you might even spot spherules within the surrounding regolith!"
It’s now officially called Skull Hill.
She explained the pits' possible origins, suggesting they may have been created through erosion processes, like removing clasts (rock fragments) or scouring by wind-driven sand particles.
Margaret added, "We’ve found a few of these dark-toned floats in the Port Anson region, and the team is working to better understand where these rocks came from and how they got here."
NASA
Adding another intriguing theory, Margaret suggested Skull Hill might even be a meteorite. Its dark appearance resembles meteorites previously discovered by the Curiosity rover in Mars's Gale crater. Typically, these meteorites contain significant amounts of iron and nickel, making chemical composition analysis critical.
However, recent data gathered by Perseverance's SuperCam instrument indicated the rock's chemical composition may not match a meteorite's usual makeup, deepening the mystery even further.
Thankfully, Perseverance is well-equipped to help scientists figure this out. Margaret explained, "Luckily for us, the rover has instruments that can measure the chemical composition of rocks on Mars. Understanding the composition of these darker-toned floats will help the team interpret the origin of this unique rock!"
The James Webb Space Telescope recently unveiled a remarkable discovery.
Mars isn't the only source of recent space excitement. Another groundbreaking discovery was made around a distant planet named K2-18b.
First detected in 2015 by NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope, K2-18b orbits a red dwarf star in the constellation Leo. It’s more than twice the size of Earth and has long fascinated astronomers.
The James Webb Space Telescope recently discovered gases like methane, carbon dioxide, and dimethyl sulfide in K2-18b's atmosphere. The presence of dimethyl sulfide is fascinating since living organisms typically produce this gas on Earth.
Professor Nikku Madhusudhan explained that currently, no known non-biological process can explain this gas’s presence on K2-18b. He described the implications of this discovery as a "shock to the system," adding, "It’s a question humanity has been asking for thousands of years. It takes time to recover from its enormity."
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As we look back on these findings, the emergence of Skull Hill on Mars and the tantalizing hints of life on K2‑18b reveal that our universe still holds countless secrets waiting to be unveiled.
Each new clue - from dark, pitted rocks on the Red Planet to unexpected gases in a distant Earth’s atmosphere - expands our scientific horizons and renews our collective sense of wonder.
Damjan
