Tuesday Telescope: Finally, some answers on those Martian streaks

Alas, these probably are not reservoirs of life.

May 20, 2025 - 15:30

Tuesday Telescope: Finally, some answers on those Martian streaks

One of the longest-standing mysteries about Mars has been the presence of dark and light streaks on the rolling hills surrounding Olympus Mons. This week's image, from the European Space Agency, shows some of these streaks captured last October.

This massive mountain rises about 22 km above the surface of Mars, more than twice as high as Mount Everest on Earth. It is bordered by hummocky deposits, called aureoles, that were formed by landslides from the mountain. A striking feature of these aureoles is the periodic appearance of bright and dark streaks—sometimes for days and sometimes for years.

For decades, scientists have wondered what they might be.

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