Professor of Mathematics

Paata Ivanisvili

Department of Mathematics, University of California, Irvine

Candidate 11: Lava plains of Ulysses Fossae, between Olympus Mons and Ascraeus Mons

Promising · roughly 55%

Two CTX close-ups of the same 800 by 800 m of dusty lava plains near Ulysses Fossae, from November 2010 and November 2025. A diffuse dark patch with darker blobs, below the arrow, is present only in 2025. — The same 800 × 800 m in November 2010 and November 2025, under the same sun. NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS.

What changed. A diffuse dark patch 100 to 150 m across, with two or three darker blobs inside, appeared on these heavily dust-covered lava plains some time in the last 15 years.

Why it may be a new impact. Two earlier images taken under the same sun show nothing at the spot.

Location: 14.287° N, 235.889° E (124.111° W)
Absent: 26 November 2010 and 4 January 2011
Present: 29 November 2025
Size: Diffuse dark patch 100 to 150 m across, with two or three darker blobs inside
Confidence: Promising; roughly 55% that it is a new impact.
Caveat: Only one image shows it so far, so it is rated promising rather than strong. It lies outside every footprint of the high-resolution HiRISE camera. Like every candidate here, it is unconfirmed: see the caveat.