The European Space Agency (ESA) has a shared a photo taken by its Mars Express spacecraft of a crater on Mars. What makes this particular crater rather peculiar is that it seems to resemble an eyeball.
The photo was taken by the Martian spacecraft on April 25. Considered colorful by Martian standards, the image gives scientists clues regarding what is in inside the the crater as wear as the areas surrounding it.
ESA's Mars Express' Photo of a Martian Crater That Looks Like an Eyeball
According to the ESA, this Martian crater is unnamed and is located among winding channels that are part of a region known as Aonia Terra. It is around 18.6 miles wide.
"Conjuring images of veins running through a human eyeball, these channels are likely to have carried liquid water across the surface of Mars around 3.5-4 billion years ago," the space agency says in its statement.
The image is actually considered colorful by Martian standards and a report by CNET says that these colors are "geologic clues." Specifically, the colors surrounding the crater suggest that this particular region of the Red Planet is made up of different materials.
"South of the crater (on the left of the true-color image above), the surface is a warm red, melting into a darker brownish-grey closer to the crater. In this region, many buttes are visible - these flat-topped towers of rock are created when land is gradually worn away by water, wind or ice," the ESA says.
Color-Coded Topographic Image of the Eyeball-Like Crater
The ESA has already released a color-coded topographical image of the crater.
According to CNET, areas colored in blues and purples are lower areas while those that are higher are colored in reds and whites. The crater itself, which is full of buttes and hills that are cone-shaped, is colored blue.
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ESA's Mars Express
The Mars Express spacecraft is actually the first European mission to Mars, per the ESA. It began science oprations in 2004 with the goal of studying the Red Planet's atmosphere and climate. It also meant to learn more about the structure and geology of Mars and if there is evidence of water on the planet.
The spacecraft actually has seven instruments and even had a lander called Beagle 2. However, Beagle 2 did not survive its attempt to reach the Martian surface.
Aside from the Red Planet itself, the ESA spacecraft has also closely studied the Martian moon known as Phobos. It also maintains communication with the Martian rovers of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
Nearly 20 years after it began its operations, the Mars Express is still fully functioning and carrying out its mission on the Red Planet.
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