Our closest planetary neighbour looks to have a smiling teddy bear face etched into its surface, just waiting for a passing satellite to find it.
That's exactly what happened last month when the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter went by carrying the most powerful camera ever to explore the Solar System.
Scientists running the HiRISE (High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment), which has been orbiting Mars since 2006, have now released a photo of the face after processing the data that returned to Earth.
The kit's operators, scientists at the University of Arizona, described the object as having a hill with a V-shaped collapse structure (the nose), two craters (the eyes), and a circular fracture pattern (the head).
Each feature on the 2,000 metre (1.25 mile) broad face has a potential explanation that sheds light on how dynamic the planet's surface is.
The scientists speculated that the circular fracture pattern may be the result of a deposit settling over an underground impact crater.
"Perhaps the deposit is lava or mud flows, and the nose is a volcanic or mud vent?"
One of the six instruments on board the Orbiter, HiRISE, takes incredibly detailed photographs of the Red Planet to assist map its surface for any human or robotic visits in the future.
The crew has found dark flows that may be liquids throughout the past 10 years and has been able to photograph avalanches as they happened.
They've also discovered dust devils whirling over the Martian surface and a feature that some have compared to the Starfleet emblem from Star Trek.
The small green men that were formerly widely thought to live on the planet have not been discovered, though.
Under the terms of a Creative Commons licence, this article has been taken from PHYSOORG . Go here to read the original article.
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