Mars scientists ponder polygon mystery


	Mars scientists ponder polygon mystery

arifsali

5-27-2008 12:54 PM

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tags:

mars, science

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5-27-2008 1:26 PM

skwirlinator

Perplexing Polygons

5-27-2008 2:52 PM

kmcolo

NASA knows how to make the best out of a situation. These polygons are common in arctic areas (http://www.athropolis.com/arctic-facts/fact-polygons.htm). Not that these are exactly like those found on Earth but...

5-27-2008 2:58 PM

kmcolo

I take back my criticism. An interesting little issue. Likely due to the dynamics involving CO2 ice and water ice is my guess.

5-28-2008 1:43 AM

Brimstone

Aliens!

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<div style="margin: 12px 0px; font-family: arial; color: #333333; background: #ffffff; border: solid 4px #e5e5e5; width: 100%; clear: left;"><div class="CM_CTB_Content_Wrap" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;background-color: #ffffff;"><div style="border-bottom: solid 1px #dcdcdc; white-space: nowrap; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: #eeeeee ;background-image: url(http://clipmarks.com/images/source-bg.gif); background-repeat: repeat-x; height: 24px; line-height: 24px; vertical-align: middle; padding-bottom: 4px; color: #666666; font-size: 10px;" ><a href="http://clipmarks.com/clip-to-blog/" title="see clips that are hot right now"><img src="http://content.clipmarks.com/blog_embed/3d0616c0-03b1-414c-9a7a-ff9201eadd23/5BEE37A9-914B-4651-8AA7-D3A6DBC986D8/" alt="" width="19" height="19" border="0" style="vertical-align: middle; margin: 0px 4px; display: inline; border: none; float:none;" /></a>clipped from <a title="http://space.newscientist.com/article/dn13986-mars-scientists-ponder-polygon-mystery.html?feedId=online-news_rss20" href="http://space.newscientist.com/article/dn13986-mars-scientists-ponder-polygon-mystery.html?feedId=online-news_rss20" style="font-size: 11px;">space.newscientist.com</a></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://space.newscientist.com/article/dn13986-mars-scientists-ponder-polygon-mystery.html?feedId=online-news_rss20"><P>Scientists working with images from the Mars Phoenix mission are baffled by an unexpected difference between what they thought they would see and what Phoenix is now showing them.</P></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://space.newscientist.com/article/dn13986-mars-scientists-ponder-polygon-mystery.html?feedId=online-news_rss20"><P>The difference suggests that the northern plains of Mars may be a more complicated and active environment than previously imagined.</P></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://space.newscientist.com/article/dn13986-mars-scientists-ponder-polygon-mystery.html?feedId=online-news_rss20"><div align="center"><img src="http://content9.clipmarks.com/blog_cache/space.newscientist.com/img/7503893D-74C6-4CE3-A8D4-F8CA5E221B03" alt="Does this sharp-edged polygon indicate recent change on Mars? (Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech/U of Arizona)" /></div></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://space.newscientist.com/article/dn13986-mars-scientists-ponder-polygon-mystery.html?feedId=online-news_rss20"><DIV class="straptext">Does this sharp-edged polygon indicate recent change on Mars? (Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech/U of Arizona)</DIV></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://space.newscientist.com/article/dn13986-mars-scientists-ponder-polygon-mystery.html?feedId=online-news_rss20"><P>Among the most spectacular images thus far is a colour mosaic of the terrain looking out from the northward side of the lander. It clearly shows the so-called "polygons" that are typical features of this region.</P></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://space.newscientist.com/article/dn13986-mars-scientists-ponder-polygon-mystery.html?feedId=online-news_rss20"><P>There's just one problem: the polygons are too small.</P></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://space.newscientist.com/article/dn13986-mars-scientists-ponder-polygon-mystery.html?feedId=online-news_rss20"><P>During a press briefing yesterday, principal investigator <A target="ns" href="http://www.lpl.arizona.edu/faculty/smith.html">Peter Smith</A> of the University of Arizona, Tucson, US, said that preliminary estimates suggest the polygons in the foreground of the image are about 1.5 to 2.5 metres across.</P></blockquote></div><div style="margin: 0px 6px 6px 4px;"><table style="font-size: 11px;border-spacing: 0px;padding: 0px;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tr><td style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;">&nbsp;</td><td align="right" style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;width:107px" width="107"><a href="http://clipmarks.com/share/5BEE37A9-914B-4651-8AA7-D3A6DBC986D8/blog/" title="blog or email this clip"><img src="http://content6.clipmarks.com/images/c2b-foot.png" border="0" alt="blog it" width="107" height="17" style="border-width:0px;padding:0px;margin:0px;" /></a></td></tr></table></div></div>

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