Biggest canyon in the Solar System captured by ESA's Mars Express
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The Valles Marineris is almost ten times longer than our equivalent here on Earth - the Grand Canyon in the US.
A European Space Agency mission has captured incredible images from deep inside the largest known canyon in the Solar System.
The pictures from the Mars Express show the Valles Marineris - which is almost ten times longer, 20 times wider and five times deeper than the Grand Canyon in the US.
The images show that the canyon is formed of mountains, dark dunes and landslides.
The photos were taken in April during the Mars Express' High Resolution Stereo Camera or HRSC.
What do we know about Valles Marineris?
It's huge.
The canyon covers 2,500 miles of Mars' equator and is four miles deep in some parts.
The images show that there are two trenches that run alongside Valles Marineris - also known as chasma.
They have been named Tithonium Chasma and Ius Chasma and they are 500 miles long - double the length of Earth's Grand Canyon.
What do the images show us?
Scientists believe that, unlike canyons on Earth that are often created by water flow over millions of years, this one was almost certainly caused by volcanos and - known as tectonic activity.
The scientists also say it was created over a billion years ago.
This map shows what the Mars Express found!
Although they don't believe the canyon was formed by water, they did discover frozen water stores deep below its surface.
This, according to the ESA, is probably from a time when Mars was wetter, warmer and possibly more suitable for life.
NASA's Perseverance rover is currently looking for possible signs of past life on Mars on a part of the planet called Jezero Crater.
Mars Express has been orbiting the Red Planet since 2003 learning more about its atmosphere, surface and what lies beneath.
- Published21 July 2022
- Published6 January 2022
