A mysterious hole on Mars has sparked speculation that it could be a gateway to ancient alien life.
The crater-like opening, about 50 meters wide, is located on the rim of an ancient volcano, and scientists have suggested it could protect life forms from the Red Planet’s radiation and harsh conditions.
Although researchers aren’t sure how deep the pit is, they say it is likely an underground lava tube created during a volcanic explosion. The deep tunnel could serve as a shelter for astronauts who want to enter the world of Mars.
A mysterious hole on Mars has sparked speculation that it could be a gateway to ancient alien life
Scientists aren’t sure how deep the holes are on Mars (photo). They think they formed after a volcanic explosion caused lava tubes to form
The University of Arizona reposted a photo of the Martian hole for its “Picture of the Day” this month, sparking additional conversations about how it will impact future science missions.
Although scientists captured the image with the HiRISE camera in 2022, they are still working to discover how and why these holes exist.
Researchers have theorized that the holes are “skylights” where the ground above the lava tubes collapsed, according to Brandon Johnson, a geophysicist at Purdue University who studies impact craters throughout the solar system.
Lava tubes are underground passages, similar to a long cave, that formed during a volcanic explosion.
As the lava flows downhill, the surface cools and hardens into a dark crust that acts as an insulator for the lava flowing beneath the surface.
This allows the lava to stay hotter and flow further, leaving an empty tunnel.
‘There’s more than one [pits] on Mars that we saw,” Johnson said Business insider.
“But they are really interesting because they are places where astronauts can go and are safe from radiation.”
Mars’ thin atmosphere and lack of a global magnetic field like Earth’s — which extends into space and interacts with the solar wind to block the sun’s radiation — creates dangerous radiation levels.
Lava tubes are underground passageways, similar to a long cave, created during a volcanic explosion. As the lava flows downhill, the surface cools and hardens into a dark crust that acts as an insulator for the lava flowing beneath the surface. The holes (photo) probably formed after the surface above the lava tubes collapsed
Mars is home to high levels of radiation that pose dangerous risks to astronauts. Scientists hope the holes discovered on the red planet can give them refuge from the elements.
Radiation poses a major challenge for astronauts who would be exposed to the high-energy cosmic rays that could cause long-term health problems such as cataracts, heart disease, cancer, genetic damage and death.
However, these holes could lead to lava tubes large enough for astronauts to survive the elements if humans reach Mars.
“On Earth, these lava tubes can be large enough to walk around in, but they can also be small and the voids can be discrete or discontinuous,” Ross Beyer, a planetary scientist at the SETI Institute, told Business Insider.
“So these pits we’re seeing could lead into larger caverns, or they could just be isolated pits,” Beyer continued, adding, “There’s no way to know what’s inside until we examine them in more detail.” ‘
There is no known timetable for when a mission could bring humans to the planet, but scientists have suggested other options to learn more about the pits.
“There have been missions proposed to essentially have a robot go on a line and drop into one of these skylights and be able to explore what’s inside,” Johnson said, noting that such a mission is not yet in the works .
The wells don’t guarantee there is life on Mars, but Johnson added, “This is a good place to look.”