Fresh Crater on Mars

The Red Planet was struck by an asteroid sometime in the past three years, and the resulting crater has revealed a dark material, which surprised scientists, from under the reddish dust of Mars.

A photograph, taken in April by NASA’s research satellite “Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter” which has been observing the Red Planet from its orbit for 13 years, shows black-blue remains under the usual red-black dust in an area that can be considered quite flat.

The asteroid that created the crater, measured to have a diameter of 15-16 meters, is estimated to be about 1.5 meters in size. If such a small meteorite had struck the Earth, it would have burned to pieces in the atmosphere and wouldn’t be able to reach the surface.

Scientists who analysed the photograph stated that they were captivated by the colour of this particular crater because they can clearly see the effect of the impact as a dark area where the dust is removed from the surface. Underneath, we can see rocks that are thought to be basalt, based on the colours in the image and what we already know about the geology of Mars. In addition, the region with a bluish tint is likely to be ice that has appeared from beneath the surface.