Is that Paddington Bear on Mars?

DULUTH, MN. (Northern News Now) - Scientists say they found a bear on Mars. But not a living one.

An image captured by the NASA Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter’s High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment, or HiRISE, appears to show the image of a bear’s face on the surface of the Red Planet.

Researchers at the University of Arizona’s Lunar and Planetary Laboratory manage HiRISE.

They found a large circular fracture pattern. It forms the outline of the bear’s head. It they speculate it “might be due to the settling of a deposit over a buried impact crater.”

In the center, the “nose” is formed by a hill with a V-shaped collapse.

The “eyes” are two smaller craters.

Researchers explain the unusual formation, “Maybe the nose is a volcanic or mud vent and the deposit could be lava or mud flows?”

The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has been orbiting the planet for nearly 17 years.

According to the University of Arizona, the HiRISE instrument remains the most powerful camera ever sent to another planet, imaging up to 30 cm per pixel.

(TMX contributed to this story)