News
Movement of seepage-features in Richardson crater
The animation above shows the growing of flow features on the dark dunes inside Richardson crater, on subsequent HiRISE images acquired between solar longitude=172 and 262 degrees, during local spring. Higher resolution version is available and can be used free of charge. Please cite it as: Collegium Budapest, Mars Astrobiology Group, and write en email for the webmaser too. In the subsets 1-2 wind-blown diffuse streaks are present, in subsets 3-8 growing of flow features are visible, while in subsets 9-10 the disappearance of bright halo and the lighter streak left behind can be analyzed
Radio interview with the Mars Astrobiology Group
At the Radio Kossuth a program called "Hétköznapi tudomány" (Science of everyday) broadcasted a half our long interview with our group on the possibility of life on Mars today based on our research. The radio spot can be listened at the website of MR1.
The spots are closer to Hungary
On the 29th of April 2009 the Mars Astrobiology Group gave an overview of the present status of the research and the DDS-MSO theory. Around 40 persons from the academic life and the media, as well as university students attended to the meeting and the exhibition opening. The strong interest form the media is shown by the number of articles from journals and websites:
Exhibition opened on the DDS-MSO theory
A poster exhibition was opened on 29th of April at the Dining Room of Collegium Budsapest, that shows the basic elements of the model and related surface features of Mars.
Press conference and exhibition opening, 3 p.m. on 29 April 2009
Latest Hungarian results on the possibility of life on Mars
Programme (29 April 2009)
- 15.00 Seminar Room (language of lectures: English, questions and discussion: Hungarian)
- Opening (Andrew Sors, Rector of Collegium Budapest)
- The Mars Astrobiology Group and the biological hypothesis (Eörs Szathmáry)
- Signs of liquid water on Mars today (Ákos Kereszturi)
- Cryptobiotic crust: possible analogous community on Earth (Tamás Pócs)
- 16.30 Club Room
- Opening of the exhibition
- Reception
The Mars Astrobiology Group have identified features on the Martian polar dune fields which may be the result of liquid water movement. On the tilted slopes of the dark dunes seepage-like features appear and grow in spring as the season passes by. The observations could be interpreted as the movement of ephemeral liquid water, corroborated by model calculations. Such water may have important astrobiological consequences. The researchers analyzed communities of extreme organisms on Earth also, called cryptiobiotic crust that may be partial analogues for hypothetical Martian organisms.
At the press conference the latest results on the DDS-MSO (Dark Dune Spot - Mars Surface Organism) hypothesis will be presented, based on two recent articles and a book chapter. The exhibition will show stunning images of the analyzed Martian features.
For journalists background material in Hungarian language can be downloaded here.
New paper in print in Astrobiology:
Analysis of Dark Albedo Features on a Southern Polar Dune Field of Mars
A. Horváth, Á. Kereszturi, Sz. Bérczi, A. Sik, T. Pócs, T. Gánti, E. Szathmáry, Astrobiology ahead of print. doi:10.1089/ast.2007.0212. pdf
 Abstract We observed 20-200 m sized low-albedo seepage-like streaks and their annual change on defrosting polar dunes
in the southern hemisphere of Mars, based on the Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC), High Resolution Stereo Camera
(HRSC), and High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) images. The structures originate from
dark spots and can be described as elongated or flowlike and, at places, branching streaks. They frequently
have another spotlike structure at their end.
Their overall appearance and the correlation between their morphometric
parameters suggest that some material is transported downward from the spots and accumulates at
the bottom of the dune's slopes. Here, we present possible scenarios for the origin of such streaks, including
dry avalanche, liquid CO2, liquid H2O, and gas-phase CO2. Based on their morphology and the currently known
surface conditions of Mars, no model interprets the streaks satisfactorily. The best interpretation of only the
morphology and morphometric characteristics is only given by the model that implies some liquid water. The
latest HiRISE images are also promising and suggest liquid flow. We suggest, with better knowledge of subice
temperatures that result from extended polar solar insolation and the heat insulator capacity of water vapor
and water ice, future models and measurements may show that ephemeral water could appear and flow
under the surface ice layer on the dunes today.
Discovery of new northern seepage-like features on Mars
Possible Liquid-like Water Produced Seepage Features on Mars Kereszturi A. Horváth A. Sik A. Kuti A. Bérczi Sz. Gánti T. Pócs T. Szathmáry E.
Seepage-like features emanate from Dark Dune Spots, and their seasonal changes were observed on northern dunes of Mars. Based on observations and theoretical computations, they may form by the movement of interfacial water-lubricated dune grains.
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Members of the ESA Mars Astrobiology Group at Collegium Budapest (Institute for Advanced Study) have been analyzing seasonally changing features and seepages on polar dunes of Mars since 2001. Interfacial water-covered grains with radiation shielding against UV may provide a tolerable microenvironment there.
Cryptobiotic crust communities were analyzed as partial analogues on Earth, showing adaptation to dryness, cold and a long dormant state. The DDS-MSO (Dark Dune Spot - Mars Surface Organism) hypothesis was developed, according to which ephemeral conditions are favourable for living organisms on Mars.
This hypothesis is compatible with all the recent discoveries of H2O and layered polar frost on Mars, and low-temperature metabolism on Earth. Click here for our publications and brief description of the model.
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