Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of
our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief
explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2005 February
28 Explanation: What are those unusual plates on Mars? A leading
current interpretation holds that they are blocks of ice
floating on a recently frozen sea covered by dust. The unusual
plates were photographed recently by the European Space Agency's
Mars Express spacecraft currently orbiting Mars. Oddly, the
region lies near the Martian equator and not near either of
Mars' frozen polar caps. Without being covered by dust, any
water or ice near away from the poles would quickly evaporate
right into the atmosphere. Evidence that the above-imaged plates
really are dust-covered water-ice includes a similarity in
appearance to ice blocks off Earth's Antarctica, nearby surface
fractures from which underground water could have flowed, and
the shallow depth of the craters indicating that something is
filling them in. If correct, the l