Shall we take a flight over the Martian labyrinth of Night? (6 photos + 1 video)

Ever wondered what it would be like to fly over the surface of Mars? The European Space Agency (ESA) has released an animation showing one of the Red Planet's most stunning sights from above - Noctis Labyrinthus, which means "labyrinth of the night" in Latin.





The video was created using images taken by the Mars Express spacecraft, which has been mapping the Martian surface for two decades. The device captured thousands of images, including images of the rugged landscape of the canyons located between the Valles Marineris and the huge volcanoes of the Tharsis Plateau. The team also used topographical information to create a three-dimensional image of the landscape.

The result is an animation showing a system of valleys that stretches for 1200 km, its width reaches 30 km, and its depth is 6 km.

For comparison, the Grand Canyon in Arizona reaches 29 km at its widest point and 1.8 km at its deepest point.



According to scientists, the labyrinth of valleys was formed millions of years ago as a result of tectonic and volcanic activity.

The video shows amazing features of the landscape, including the so-called "grabens". These are areas of the earth's crust that are lowered relative to the surrounding area along steep or vertical tectonic faults.





"Volcanism has caused large areas of the Martian crust to buckle, stretch and undergo tectonic stress, causing it to thin, fracture and subsidence," the European Space Agency said.



Over its 20 years of operation, Mars Express discovered enough water ice in the south polar cap to cover a global ocean 11 km deep, and revealed vast plains of permafrost around the Red Planet's South Pole.



A small lander, Beagle 2, was also sent to Mars in 2003, but it was lost after landing.

Other spacecraft that have captured images of the Night Labyrinth include NASA's Viking 1 orbiter, which took a sweeping photograph of the region in 1980.