The Mystery of Spiders on Mars

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For years, scientists and space fans have been fascinated by Mars, the mysterious Red Planet.

ESA's Mars explorers, the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO), have captured clear images of the tendril-like patterns of the spiders, as seen below.

This fascinating phenomenon known as "spider-like terrain" or "araneiform terrain" observed on the surface of Mars. Lets understand this phenomenon step by step:

During the cold, dark Martian winter, carbon dioxide in the atmosphere freezes, forming a layer of dry ice on the surface. This layer accumulates over time, creating a thick coating of frozen carbon dioxide.

As the Martian winter transitions to spring, sunlight begins to reach the polar regions, including the areas covered in carbon dioxide ice. The intensity of the sunlight increases with the changing seasons.

When sunlight shines on the layers of carbon dioxide ice, it warms the ice at the bottom. This localized heating causes the frozen carbon dioxide to sublimate directly from solid to gas without melting into liquid first.

Eventually, the pressure from the trapped gas becomes too great, causing it to burst through the weaker points in the ice above. This sudden release of gas propels dark dust particles from beneath the surface, creating tall, fountain-like eruptions known as "geysers."

As the gas erupts through cracks in the ice, it carries dark dust particles with it, creating intricate patterns resembling spider legs or branching channels on the surface. These patterns are formed as the gas escapes in multiple directions, leaving behind distinctive araneiform or spider-like terrain.

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