Nasa spacecraft snaps reveal giant ear-shaped crater on Mars
EAR’S a discovery worth trumpeting about — a giant lughole on Mars.
The familiar shape was on one of the latest images beamed back from the Red Planet by a Nasa spacecraft.
It appears to have a lobe and ear canal opening but, alas, no pointy top like Mr Spock’s ears in Star Trek.
In fact, the shape is a crater left behind after a space rock smashed into the planet’s surface.
It is 1.8km across and was spotted in Mars’s northern hemisphere.
Nasa called it an example of pareidolia, where we imagine features, such as faces, or patterns in objects.
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It said: “In this case, we’re looking at an odd-shaped impact crater that looks a great deal like an ear.
"And once you see it, it’s almost impossible to un-see.”
The image was captured by the US space agency’s Mars.
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Reconnaissance Orbiter during a fly-past 291km above the surface in September 2020.
The craft, which has been orbiting and studying the planet since 2006, uses imaging technology nicknamed HiRise to study the geology and climate of Mars.
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It is not the first time body parts have been spotted on the planet — the orbiter picked up a happy face crater near its south pole, while a European craft found an eyeball crater in June.
Another crater caught by HiRise in 2018 was said to resemble arcade favourite Pac-Man in full munching mode, while the following year it found what appeared to be an E and a T daubed on the planet.
