News in Space: Life on Mars? Best place to search for Martian life found by experts | Science | New

The "ghost dunes" are hundreds of crescent-shaped depressions on the surface of Mars, which were once dunes the size of the Elizabeth Tower of Big Ben at Westminster

and the 246 feet in height.

The ancient formations have remained preserved because of their composition, which consists of lava or sediment, explained the researchers in the new study published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets. A planetary geomorphologist from the University of Washington in Seattle said, "We know that dunes on Earth can support life, and the dunes on Earth are very similar to the dunes on Mars." A problem that Mars does not have the surface radiation

"If you are in a dune, or at the bottom of a dune, and you are a microbial life, the dune protects you from the sun. a large part of this radiation. "

Mrs. Day added, "There is probably nothing alive there

" But if there ever was anything on Mars, it's a better place than the average to look. "

Phenomenal structures were seen on Earth and in satellite images of various regions on Mars: the Hellas Basin and Noctis Labyrinthus

Using satellite images, the team found more than 480 potential ghost dunes at Noctis Labyrinthus, and more than 300 in the East of Planita Hellas.

In addition to providing a useful target in the search for ancient signatures Life, the dunes can also help to Shaping our understanding of what were the Martian winds in the past.

According to lead author Mrs. Day, clearing up the winds of the past can also help researchers reconstruct how sediments might have traveled. the surface, how the major characteristics of The planet was formed and the old climate was different from the modern climate.

Mrs. Day said, "One of the cool things about the ghost dunes is that they tell us, for sure, that the wind on Mars was different in the ancient past, when they formed. [19659002] "The fact that the wind was different tells us that environmental conditions on Mars are not static over long time scales, they have changed over the past billion years, something we need to know to interpret geology on Mars. "

" They all go in the same way, which is normal for the dunes because they migrate and form in the same wind regime. "Just the shape and size tell us that these are features that come from an ancient dune system."