WHAT IS IT?
SPACE fans have been left baffled by something on Mars shaped like a bowling pin.
The odd object was captured by Nasa's Curiosity Rover earlier this month but observers have been scratching their heads trying to work out what it is exactly.
Bowling pin? Alien shoe horn?
Credit: Nasa
Some have jokingly suggested it could be a Martian bowling pin or even an alien's shoe horn.
Another said it looks like a discarded Tesla side mirror.
Nasa hasn't confirmed what it really is but other geeks think the answer might be less exciting.
"Looks like a wind eroded rock," one person said.
"Maybe part of a larger pillar rock which fell apart, because it couldn't hold its structure anymore."
The technical term for rocks that have been eroded by wind like this is ventifact.
At least it's not space litter, something space fans have scolded Nasa for.
Another strange object was spotted recently that looked like a cylinder.
Some suggested it might be an artifact of ancient civilisation on the Red Planet or a chunk of a crashed UFO.
But it turned out to be a piece called the 'launch abrasion bit' left by Nasa.
It was apparently dumped on the ground back in July.
But since then, the object appears to have fallen over.
Space fans also spotted it in another shot - can you see it?Credit: Nasa
In other news, people are increasingly unable to tell apart fake faces made by AI and real ones, new research suggests.
Space sleuths can’t work out what weird ‘bowling pin’ object is on Mars
- Jamie Harris, Technology and Science Reporter
- Published: 14:28, 25 Feb 2022
- Updated: 14:28, 25 Feb 2022
The odd object was captured by Nasa's Curiosity Rover earlier this month but observers have been scratching their heads trying to work out what it is exactly.
Credit: Nasa
Some have jokingly suggested it could be a Martian bowling pin or even an alien's shoe horn.
Another said it looks like a discarded Tesla side mirror.
Nasa hasn't confirmed what it really is but other geeks think the answer might be less exciting.
"Looks like a wind eroded rock," one person said.
"Maybe part of a larger pillar rock which fell apart, because it couldn't hold its structure anymore."
The technical term for rocks that have been eroded by wind like this is ventifact.
They're pretty common, and we see them all the time on Earth.At least it's not space litter, something space fans have scolded Nasa for.
Another strange object was spotted recently that looked like a cylinder.
Some suggested it might be an artifact of ancient civilisation on the Red Planet or a chunk of a crashed UFO.
But it turned out to be a piece called the 'launch abrasion bit' left by Nasa.
It was apparently dumped on the ground back in July.
But since then, the object appears to have fallen over.
In other news, people are increasingly unable to tell apart fake faces made by AI and real ones, new research suggests.
