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Alligator scales or a spider web: What do you see in this pic by Nasa?
Nasa took to Instagram to share a pic and asked if the image shows alligator scales or a spider web.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa) manages several pages across Instagram. They often share posts that give people a peek into the world that is beyond our Blue Planet. They did the same in their latest post too with an incredible picture which has now sparked a chatter among people.
The space agency shared a picture which is literally out of this world. The image is of a common occurrence that is observed in the northern lowlands of Mars. They also added how the image looks like “alligator scales or a spider web.”
“See you later, Martian alligator. From a distance, the floor of this crater looks like alligator scales or a spider web. The intersecting shapes, or polygons, are common occurrences in the northern lowlands of Mars. The polygons in this "patterned ground" are easy to see because their edges are bound by troughs or ridges covered by bright frost relative to their darker, frost-free interiors. Patterned ground on Mars is thought to form due to cyclic thermal contraction (Martian soil heating and cooling in cycles) causing cracking in the permanently frozen ground,” they wrote.
In the next few lines they added why scientists study the polygonally-patterned ground on Mars. “Scientists study polygonally-patterned ground on Mars because the occurrence and physical characteristics of the polygons help us understand the recent and past distribution of ice (frozen water) in the shallow subsurface. These features also provide clues about climate conditions on the Red Planet's surface,” they explained.
Take a look at the post:
The image has been shared about 12 hours ago. Since being posted, the share has gathered more than two lakh likes and the numbers are only increasing. The share has also prompted people to post various comments and questions.
“When it was taken?” asked an Instagram user. Nasa replied and wrote, “This image was captured on February 13, 2010.” An individual commented, “Martian crocodile. ” A third expressed, “It’s amazing.”
