The European Space Agency’s spacecraft has detected the presence of spiders on the red planet

In footage taken from the red planet’s south pole, it seems as if giant spiders have appeared on the surface of Mars. It all turned out not to be about arthropods, but phenomena that arose in the ice during the winter period, which turns from the Martian winter into the Martian spring, reports IFLScience.

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These tiny, dark features form when spring sunlight hits layers of carbon dioxide deposited during the dark winter months. Sunlight causes the carbon dioxide ice at the bottom of the layer to turn into gas, which then accumulates and breaks through the ice sheets above it. The gas is released during the Martian spring, drags dark matter along the way to the surface, and breaks up layers of ice up to a meter thick

the agency explained.

As the gas bursts to the surface, it pushes up dust and sand, creating huge fountains that then fall back to the planet. As it settles, it creates the dark spots shown in the image, ranging from 45 meters to 1 kilometer in diameter.

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So why do we see these patterns, which are actually a combination of cracks in dust and ice, as spiders?

The phenomenon of seeing familiar patterns in objects, to pareidolia is called From the point of view of our evolution, it is logical to spot patterns that pose a threat to us as quickly as possible (e.g. a snake or a hungry bear).