The Dark Spot on Mars

On 13 October 1659, Dutch astronomer Christiaan Huygens turned one of his telescopes towards a bright orange spot in the sky and produced what Percival Lowell would later call ?the first drawing of Mars worthy of the name ever made by man.?

Huygens included a dark spot in his drawing that is thought to represent Syrtis Major, a small sliver of which is visible in this HiRISE image.



Syrtis Major is a shield volcano. Its dark color comes from the dark basaltic rock in the area, visibl [...]

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