The European Space Agency recently released a spectacular image taken by the Mars Express spacecraft. This image shows a crater which look very familiar three or four times longer and wider. Admittedly lunar observers will recognize the similarity to Crater Schiller, although the content of the explanation for the ESA image is not included at no time a quote on this similarity. The review of the ESA on the picture says that this crater was probably formed by the shock of a train of projectiles. That is a possibility, but the Martian crater that is 78 km long is young enough to preserve the ejecta blanket by the impact that only extends to the sides of the elongated structure. This is a sign for a diagnosis that points to an oblique impact. Schiller Crater on the moon is 180 km long and appears almost identical with crater Mars as regards the shape defined by the boundaries, but its interior is filled, and part of the central peak has a linear another signal to diagnose origin from an oblique impact. The lavas that erupted within the basin Schiller-Zucchius covered the ejecta of Schiller, and is pretty sure that this coverage also extended to the sides. Around 25 years ago it was noted that there were some elongated craters on Mars and some researchers have suggested that there was a population of satellites around Mars collided with the planet causing those craters and that Phobos and Deimos are just waiting a little longer to soon collide with Mars and generate new oblique craters. The Moon has only Shciller Crater likely formed from a big event oblique impact.

Another interesting aspect of this same crater is part of the rare formations that were photographed in the famous "Rolling Stones".

NASA scientists have photographed a stone rolled across the surface of the moon. The image, captured by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (Camera Recognition of Lunar Orbiter), shows the stone that fell on a slope in the crater Schiller, leaving behind his original track.

But far from being a recent event, the marks of the rock suggests that the moon she moved between 50 and 100 million years ago.

Researchers believe that the stone started rolling after being hit by a meteorite, or after being dislodged by aftershocks from a nearby impact.

In my photo I indicate with some precision the place where the stone rolled!

Source: lpod / Ciencte / LROC / Telegraph / Hypescience

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