28 January 2022
Martian tree stump
© ESA
A Mars probe has snapped a peculiar feature on the Red Planet’s surface that looks like a giant tree stump – rings and all. The ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO), a joint mission by the European Space Agency (ESA) and Russia’s space agency Roscosmos, studies Mars from above, circling the planet and collecting data about its sparse atmosphere. But this orbital vantage point also allows the TGO to see Mars from above, snapping images with its Color and Stereo Surface Imaging System (CaSSIS) instrument. The interior of this crater is filled with ice deposits that settle in this formation depending on how the planet’s tilt, or spin axis, has changed over time.