The mystery of the 'strange smoke' on Mars

In 2012, astronomers discovered a smoke point rising from the surface of Mars. Before Mars One was about to announce the group of people on Mars, the 'strange' smoke point was being returned, but there was no answer, according to Time.

According to astronomers, in just 10 weeks between March and April 2012, smoke spots were discovered, from a small smudge of smoke spreading into a large smoke trail. The spread of smoke spans 621m longitudinally and vertically, United Press International, citing sources from Nature on February 18, said.

NASA space Mars image on the surface - (Photo: Reuters)

According to images taken from the red planet as well as from the Hubble space telescope, there were previously faint smoky clouds on the surface of Mars. They are formed from CO ₂ dust and water crystals. However, astronomers say strange smoke in 2012 is completely different from previous phenomena.

Accordingly, the team of scientists at the University of Basque Country (Spain) tried to find solutions to "strange" smoke spots in the past years, according to Time.

Pictures of strange smoke on Mars - (Screenshot of United Press International)

Stone crystals: Formed from water or CO2. However, this hypothesis has encountered a problem of temperature. The atmosphere of the rock crystal must be much colder than the temperature where the smoke is detected. Furthermore, if the ice crystal is water, the moisture in the surface must be greater than the surface of the smoke.

Dust storm: The hypothesis that a cloud of smoke may be a giant dust storm has no basis to be sure because the smoke does not spread and move as fast as previous dust storms.

Aurora: An optical phenomenon with multicolored light in the night sky, produced by the interaction of charged particles from the solar wind with the planet's upper atmosphere. Scientists believe that mysterious smoke can come from solar energy. But in fact, on the surface of Mars, where smoke appears, the source of sunlight is very weak.

'I really can't explain this phenomenon. I don't understand why there are objects that can survive on Mars for a long time , 'said Bruce Jakosky, NASA's head of Mars research.

The only way to explain and learn more about the mysterious smoke cloud is to wait for it to appear again. We are ready for detailed research, said Jakosky and his colleagues on United Press International.

Time commented, the answer to the strange smoke will be a great discovery of people about the planet closest to Earth. Whether or not life on Mars, it is still a big secret.