Nasa spots bizarre alien ‘tiramisu’ pattern on the surface of Mars – Metro.co.uk

Theres a very tasty explanation for the existence of this unusual pattern (Image: Nasa)

Nasa has released pictures of a bizarre natural formation on Mars which (apparently) resembles a tasty slice of tiramisu.

The pattern was spotted in an ice cap near the Martian North Pole and could reveal the secrets of climate change on the Red Planet, which was once covered in water but is now dead and barren.

The Martian ice cap is like a cake with every layer telling a story. In this case, the story is one of climate change on Mars, Nasa wrote.

This image of an exposed section of the north polar layered deposits (NPLD) looks much like a delicious slice of layered tiramisu. The NPLD is made up of water-ice and dust particles stacked one on top of the other. However, instead of icing, layers are topped with seasonal carbon dioxide frost, as seen here as lingering frost adhering to one of the layers.

It added: These complex layers might encapsulate tiny air pockets from the atmosphere which, if sampled, could be studied to understand linkages to previous climates.

In the end, its not always a piece of cake studying NPLD on Mars but, where there is cake, there is hope.

Earlier this month, Nasa released pictures of a mysterious hole on Mars which leads to a cave in which life could survive.

The hole was discovered by analysing images of the dusty slopes of Mars Pavonis Mons volcano, which were snapped by the HiRISE instrument aboard the robotic Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter craft thats currently orbiting Mars.

Nasa wrote: The hole appears to be an opening to an underground cavern, partly illuminated on the image right.

Analysis of this and follow-up images revealed the opening to be about 35 meters across, while the interior shadow angle indicates that the underlying cavern is roughly 20 meters deep.

Why there is a circular crater surrounding this hole remains a topic of speculation, as is the full extent of the underlying cavern.

Holes such as this are of particular interest because their interior caves are relatively protected from the harsh surface of Mars, making them relatively good candidates to contain Martian life.

These pits are therefore prime targets for possible future spacecraft, robots, and even human interplanetary explorers.

Scientists recently revealed thatNasa is losing water more quickly than previously estimated, which could affect its chances of hosting alien life.

A new study has found that water vapour is accumulating in large quantities and unexpected proportions at an altitude of over 80 km in the Martian atmosphere.

Parts of its atmosphere are in a state of super-saturation which means they contain more vapour than thought possible, meaning the capacity of water to escape would greatly increase during certain seasons.

What this means is that Mars could be drier than believed and therefore less likely to host life.

In a statement, theCentre National de la Recherche Scientifique wrote: The small red planet is losing water more quickly than theories and past observations would suggest.

The gradual disappearance of water (H2O) occurs in the upper atmosphere of Mars: sunlight and chemistry disassociate water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen atoms that the weak gravity of Mars cannot prevent from escaping into space.

Once upon a time, Mars was a beautiful world of lakes, rivers and oceans.

But today its red, dead and appears to be totally devoid of extraterrestrial life.

Now Nasa has discovered evidence of a beautiful aurora on the Red Planet which will help scientists understand the processes which made it so inhospitably barren.

On Earth, the most famous auroras take place near the poles and are known as the Northern Lights.

But on Mars, they take place during the day and give off ultraviolet light, which means they cannot be seen by the naked eye.

However, Nasa has a spacecraft called MAVEN ((Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution) orbiting the Red Planet which is equipped with an instrument called theImaging UltraViolet Spectrograph (IUVS) capable of detecting the aurora.

Its thought that the aurora is generated by hydrogen from Martian water thats currently escaping into space a process which has been happening slowly for a very long time.

Nasa believes that understanding the aurora could shed light on the long process of water loss which is responsible for transforming its climate from one that might have supported life to one that is cold, dry, and inhospitable.

Andra Hughes of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida. Hughes is the lead author of a paper on about the latest discovery.

She said: Perhaps one day, when interplanetary travel becomes commonplace, travellers arriving at Mars during southern summer will have front-row seats to observe Martian proton aurora majestically dancing across the dayside of the planet (while wearing ultraviolet-sensitive goggles, of course).

These travellers will witness firsthand the final stages of Mars losing the remainder of its water to space.

And if we understand where the water went, we might be able to work out if Mars was ever hospitable to Earth or if its always been a lifeless world.