Professor of Mathematics

Paata Ivanisvili

pivanisv@uci.edu · x.com/PI010101

Department of Mathematics, University of California, Irvine

Paata Ivanisvili

← Possible new impact sites on Mars

Candidate 12: Arabia Terra, 4.6 km from candidate 4

Promising · roughly 45%

Two CTX close-ups of the same 600 by 600 m of Arabia Terra, from November 2010 and December 2025. An older dark streak is in both; a small dark spot just south of its lower end is present only in 2025.
The same 600 × 600 m in November 2010 and December 2025, under the same sun. The older dark streak (top centre) is in both images; the new spot is just south of its lower end. NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS.

What changed. A small dark spot, about 20 to 25 m across, appeared in the same time window as candidate 4, only 4.6 km away.

Why it may be a new impact. It may be a second fragment of the same impactor or a separate impact.

Location
25.388° N, 20.958° E
Absent
28 November 2010
Present
10 February 2025 and 12 December 2025 (faint on 24 April 2026)
Size
Small dark spot about 20 to 25 m across
Confidence
Promising; roughly 45% that it is a new impact.
Caveat
It is faint, and it sits at the end of an older dark streak, so it could also be that streak growing. It lies outside every footprint of the high-resolution HiRISE camera. Like every candidate here, it is unconfirmed: see the caveat.
Four CTX images of the same 2 by 2 km patch, from 2010 to 2026. A small dark spot at the arrow is absent in 2010, present in February and December 2025, and faint in April 2026.
Four CTX images of the same 2 × 2 km patch, 2010 to 2026. NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS.
A 12 by 12 km CTX view from December 2025 of Arabia Terra, with a dashed box around the 2 by 2 km patch and an arrow at the spot.
A 12 × 12 km view. NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS.

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