Discovery of More Ponds on Mars Hints at Possibility of Life

The three smaller water bodies join a previously discovered lake buried beneath ice at the red planet’s south pole.

Written byAmanda Heidt

| 3 min read

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Mars, astronomy, space, extraterrestrial life, extremophile, liquid water, south pole, radio waves, radar, satellite

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Two years after discovering a large, subterranean lake on Mars, a team of scientists has reaffirmed its original finding and identified three additional ponds using reflectance data from a spacecraft orbiting the planet. The results, published September 28 in Nature Astronomy, suggest that the red planet is home to several liquid bodies of water, kept from freezing due to their high salt content. If confirmed by further research, the south pole of Mars could become a strong target in the search for extraterrestrial life.

“Not only did we confirm the position, extent and strength of the [results] from our 2018 study, but we found three new bright areas” generated by the ponds, Elena Pettinelli, a geophysicist at Roma Tre University in Italy and a coauthor on the new study, tells BBC News.

Compared to Pettinelli and colleagues’ previous work, the new study includes a wider area, ...

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Meet the Author

Amanda Heidt
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Amanda first began dabbling in scicom as a master’s student studying marine science at Moss Landing Marine Labs, where she edited the student blog and interned at a local NPR station. She enjoyed that process of demystifying science so much that after receiving her degree in 2019, she went straight into a second master’s program in science communication at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Formerly an intern at The Scientist, Amanda joined the team as a staff reporter and editor in 2021 and oversaw the publication’s internship program, assigned and edited the Foundations, Scientist to Watch, and Short Lit columns, and contributed original reporting across the publication. Amanda’s stories often focus on issues of equity and representation in academia, and she brings this same commitment to DEI to the Science Writers Association of the Rocky Mountains and to the board of the National Association of Science Writers, which she has served on since 2022. She is currently based in the outdoor playground that is Moab, Utah. Read more of her work at www.amandaheidt.com.
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