The European Space Agency (ESA) has recently released images obtained by its Mars Express orbiter that offer a glance into the red planet's landscape.
The images show traces on the Martian surface which have been described by Science Alert magazine as scratches or claw marks.
According to scientists, these traces are part of Tantalus Fossae, a giant fault system on Mars. Thanks to the close-up view offered by the orbiter, the marks were measured at 350 metres deep and 10 kilometres wide, stretching for up to 1,000 kilometres.
Some of the images shared by the ESA are available online.
Images provided by ESA’s Mars Express Orbiter show claw-shaped lines across the Martian surface
© Photo : Twitter/screenshot
The magazine pointed to the fact that the images were not technically "photos" since they were generated from a digital terrain model of the red plant, using the colour channels of the High Resolution Stereo Camera on the ESA's Mars Express. However, the images do offer a very "clear view of the vast area" of Mars' surface.
The Mars Express has been orbiting the Red Planet for 18 years already, contributing to research underway into the process of how Mars was formed.