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The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) captured this bit of ursine pareidolia on Dec. 12, 2022. While it resembles a bear we might see on Earth, this is actually a hill on Mars with a peculiar shape. A V-shaped collapse structure makes the nose, two craters form the eyes, and a circular fracture pattern shapes the head. The circular fracture pattern might be due to the settling of a deposit over a buried impact crater.
Launched on August 12, 2015, the MRO studies the history of water on Mars and observes small-scale features on the planet’s surface. See more examples of pareidolia—the human tendency to see recognizable shapes in unfamiliar objects or data—from Mars.
Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona
Content from NASA.
Patchy rain nearby, with a high of 93 and low of 69 degrees. Don't forget your umbrella! Sunny in the morning, partly cloudy during the afternoon, thundery outbreaks in nearby during the evening, partly cloudy overnight.
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