NASA Spots Mysterious 'Spider' on Mercury

NASA Spots Mysterious 'Spider' on Mercury

www.foxnews.com

The photos, released today, include one of a feature the scientists informally call "the spider," which appears to be an impact crater surrounded by more than 50 cracks in the surface radiating from its center.
Scientists are perplexed by this structure, which is unlike anything observed elsewhere in the solar system.

(visit the link for the full news article)

Very interesting impact formation.

Check it out!!

Link to article and image:
www.foxnews.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

This is the image from the Fox news article:


Source:
www.foxnews.com...


[edit on 30-1-2008 by defuntion]

[edit on 30-1-2008 by defuntion]

That's friggin awesome. I love how many newly revealed space discoveries are comin out lately.

reply to post by LockwithnoKey


Yep. I agree.

The strangest thing about it are the cracks radiating around the impact crater.

I've never seen anything like it.

hmmm try looking at the "lightbulp" in my avatar and look at the "crater" again....looks familiar doesnt it?




Yup...its and electrical universe allright!

reply to post by Bluess


Good correlation.

My first impression of it was what a virus looks like under microscope...

I'd like to hear an expert explain how an impact crater causes that formation, but I don't think it's possible without having a very good understanding of the geology of the planet.

I'm open to theories though.

Anyone?

To me it looks like a volcanic peak spilling lava down its side.

Or maybe a impact crater that opened a hole in the crust and released lava.

That certainly is cool looking! It is fun to read how excited the scientist was to get the information back. I can't imagine waiting 30 years for something like that. I am really interested in the atmosphere.

It certainly apears to have been from a missive electrical discharge. Mercury has a magnetosphere so it could have become highly charged from the sun at some time in its history in theory.

This image provided by NASA shows: “The Spider” – Radial Troughs within Caloris. The Narrow Angle Camera of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS) on the MESSENGER spacecraft obtained high-resolution images of the floor of the Caloris basin on January 14, 2008. Near the center of the basin, an area unseen by Mariner 10, this remarkable feature – nicknamed “the spider” by the science team – was revealed. A set of troughs radiates outward in a geometry unlike anything seen by Mariner 10. The radial troughs are interpreted to be the result of extension (breaking apart) of the floor materials that filled the Caloris basin after its formation. Other troughs near the center form a polygonal pattern. This type of polygonal pattern of troughs is also seen along the interior margin of the Caloris basin. An impact crater appears to be centered on “the spider.” The straight-line segments of the crater walls may have been influenced by preexisting extensional troughs, but some of the troughs may have formed at the time that the crater was excavated. (AP Photo/NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington)

Sorry for the large external quote link

First thing I thought when I saw these spider lines is that the lines on opposite sides of the crater do not exactly line up ~ I would of expected them to be roughly 180 deg. So I thought about the planet shrinking, and google popped out the above link

I don't know how they got shrinking? I immediately thought of expansion.

Has anyone seen that expanding planet theory as an alternative to the plate tectonic theory? I'm sure there is a thread on ATS somewhere about it...

*loam searches*

EDIT

Here it is...

New Model of the Universe


[edit on 30-1-2008 by loam]

To me, it looks like someone dropped a giant 'water' balloon filled with liquid metal that splattered then hardened. Yup, that's definitely what happened.

It looks to me like something growing under the surface.
Akin to roots on a plant...

who knows WHAT was on the rock that hit that planet.

Guys? This is an impact crater. It has ejecta markings. It's not really a spider, ok? It just reminds us of a spider, so they called it "the spider". It's not really a spider.

In my examination of this, I can see two things that could have possibly caused this lanscape to form

1) A draining of some sort of liquid into the apparent focal point or point of origin (where the lines all seem to be pointing to).

- Perhaps a large body of water drained/sunk into an inner cavity of the planet/moon.

2) Some type of electrical emission from the focal point/ point of origin.

I could be wrong, but what ever it is, some type of movement/motion has taken place.

Originally posted by loam
I don't know how they got shrinking? I immediately thought of expansion.

I know what you mean - but if you imagine half inflating a balloon, and draw your typical symmetrical(ish) impact complete with ejecta lines (spiders legs) sorta evenly spaced around. Okay - mental balloon at the ready? Inflate it a bit and you should see your relatively straight ejecta line stay more or less straight - but get longer as the surface gets tighter... Now deflate the balloon and the lines should get more irregular ~ look again at the photo, that's how I see it any way.

P.s. no balloons were harmed in the making of that thought experiment - cos I don't have any

Oh Valhall... Thanks for pointing out it is not a real spider... That's helped me understand the whole phenomena a bit better!




[edit on 30/1/2008 by Now_Then]

Clearly the lines are from carniverous worm analouges that eat Mercurians and the center of the crater is the only safe place on the planet!!like the movie Tremors!i think thats the film any way!Come on people this is ATS, we need some more "out there" thinking, tear the box up, less crackpot theories like magnetosphere and more science based observations like killer worms!

My view on how this was formed is due to a molten lump striking the planet.

The first portion of the molten lump hit dead on and made the straight lines up and down. The second part, or rear, of the molten lump was forced to fold into the main leading lump and created a slight twist as it struck causing the molten rock to be cast in a curved motion to the left and right.

Another point that leads me to a molten blob, is the thick, heavy 'dribble' at the bottom of the picture.

It's possible that as the lump came in, it started to drip and this drip left the thick, wobbly line at the bottom. or the rear had begun to twist and threw off the dribble.

Looks like liquid burped up from below after a sharp asteroid impact. the wavy nature of the "arms" is very odd though.

[edit on 30-1-2008 by ItsHumanNature]

[edit on 30-1-2008 by ItsHumanNature]

reply to post by ItsHumanNature

Caloris, not clitoris. Be careful about reading the article. I don't know where you got spermatozoa.