Bear Face Found On Mars Goes Viral, See The Unbelievable Image
The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter camera records a shot that many believe looks exactly like a bear's face.
The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment Twitter account posted a picture from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter camera, and it looks remarkably like a bear face. Images from Mars are always cool to see, especially when they happen to look like a badly drawn cartoon mammal. Take a look at the image and decide for yourself if the surface feature is bear-like:
The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment account, which is based out of the University of Arizona in Tucson, further broke down what the bear face on Mars actually is. The distinctive snout is actually a hill with a collapsed V-shape, the eyes are actually craters, and the outline of the head is actually a circular fracture pattern. While this squashes any hopes of it being drawn by a Martian with a laser, it’s cool to learn more about the geography of the red planet.
The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment further theorized on the features that make up the bear face, guessing that the nose could be a volcanic feature or a mud vent. They also guess that the circle fracture pattern could possibly be a deposit settling over a buried impact crater. If you want to see more Mars images like these, the HiRise Twitter account is definitely worth a follow.
While a bear face might be the first thing most people see from this Mars image, it also slightly resembles the Doge meme and cryptocurrency logo. There are a few things you might see when looking at this image. Whether it’s a bear or a Shiba Inu face, it’s certainly an interesting picture.
This bear face is far from the first time we’ve seen a face on the surface of Mars. The phenomenon of finding patterns and recognizing faces or animals in natural structures is known as pareidolia. One of the more famous examples of this in relation to space pictures is the face on Mars from the Viking Orbiter in 1976.
This bear face is less ambiguous than some of the other faces on Mars, as you can easily make out the snout, eyes, and head shape. Some other shapes that people have spotted in Martian pictures include a smiley face, a wasp, a hummingbird, a wolf, and a wooly mammoth. With all the pictures we get from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter camera, there are sure to be many more animal faces to see in the future.
The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter was launched into space in 2005 and serves a more scientific purpose than just snapping bear face pictures on the surface of mars. The advanced HiRise camera on board is able to provide detailed images of the surface of Mars, helping us to observe the planet’s topography, climate, and geologic forces. The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter also seeks out potential future landing sites and helps relay data from surface missions.
The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is equipped with three cameras, two spectrometers, and a radar to accomplish its objectives. With these advanced tools, we can get much more than just bear-face images from the surface of Mars. Though, those are still nice to get sometimes.
