Scientists discover a ‘smiley face’ on Mars – and it could contain signs of life

Astronomers have discovered a smiley-face-shaped structure on Mars – and it could be more than just a planetary quirk.

Researchers believe that it may be harboring signs of past life on the Red Planet.

The European Space Agency snapped this pH๏τo of a smiley-face-shaped salt deposit on Mars that could harbor evidence of ancient alien life on the Red Planet

This grinning formation is made up of a pair of crater eyes and rings of ancient salt deposits.

These deposits are the remains of an ancient body of water that dried up long ago, leaving behind this emoji-like remnant that is only visible when viewed with an infrared camera.

The European Space Agency (ESA) – which snapped the pH๏τo – said: ‘These deposits, remnants of ancient water bodies, could indicate habitable zones from billions of years ago.’

These salt deposits are typically invisible, but the infrared cameras on the ESA's ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter allow us to see them glowing pink or violet

Scientists aren’t sure exactly how big the smiley-face is, but it’s one of 965 other salt deposits that have recently been catalogued on Mars’ surface, which range in size from 1,000 to 10,000 feet wide.

Salt deposits are accumulations of salt – or chloride – found on a planetary surface. On Mars, they are the remnants of ancient bodies of water that dried up when the planet underwent a major climatic shift eons ago.

As Mars' liquid water disappeared, the last salty puddles could have harbored surviving microbial life, and their remains could be preserved in the resulting salt deposits

Before the last puddles of Mars’ liquid water disappeared, they may have been a ‘haven’ for microbial life, according to the ESA.

These puddles would have been extremely salty, and thus the remains of microbes that once lived in them may still be preserved to this day – hiding in deposits like this smiley face.

The ESA captured this image using their ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter, which has been measuring the levels of methane and other gases in Mars’ atmosphere since 2016 to help scientists understand possible biological or geological activity on the Red Planet.

Normally, salt deposits on Mars’ surface are invisible.

But the orbiter’s infrared cameras allow us to see them glowing pink or violet – revealing the smiley-face.

The pH๏τo was published as part of a study in the journal Scientific Data.

Related Posts

Unearthing Ancient Artistry: The 2,000-Year-Old Bronze Matrix of Sarmizegetusa

A Fascinating Find in Romania One of the most exciting archaeological discoveries in recent years is the hexagonal bronze matrix found at Sarmizegetusa Regia in Romania. This…

Incredible Discovery: The ‘Oldest Gold of Humankind’ found at the Varna Necropolis was buried more than 6,500 years ago.

The necropolis in Varna, a cemetery dating back to 4,660–4,450 BC on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast, is home to the oldest gold objects known to exist….

The Great Sphinx of Giza: A Timeless Symbol of Ancient Power

The Great Sphinx of Giza, with its majestic lion’s body and the head of a pharaoh, stands as a monumental emblem of Ancient Egypt’s enduring power and…

The World’s Largest Roman Mosaic: A Hidden Gem in a H๏τel

The largest Roman mosaic in the world isn’t hidden away in a museum; it resides in a H๏τel, inviting visitors to explore it freely. Spanning an impressive 836…

Stone Spirits and Sky Paths: Listening to the Silence of the Desert Wall

Carved into the burnished red skin of a desert cliff, where heat shimmers and time moves without sound, a series of petroglyphs stare back across centuries. Found…

“Where Silence Rises in Stone: The Reawakening of Emperor Xiaowen’s Tomb”

In the quiet fields of Xi’an, China—a city once the heart of empires—rests a monument shaped by ambition, transition, and the longing for permanence. The Mausoleum of…