Scientists, with the help of NASA's Perseverance Mars rover, found a strange object on the Red Planet. The object looks like a cluster of hundreds of spider eggs. In a statement, the US-based space agency said that last week, the Perseverance Science Team was shocked by a strange rock comprised of hundreds of millimetre-sized spheres. The team is now working hard to understand their origin and the mystery behind it. 

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NASA revealed that it has now been two weeks since Perseverance arrived at Broom Point, which is situated at the lower slopes of the Witch Hazel Hill area on the Jezero crater rim. 

They said that a series of light-and-dark-toned bands were visible from orbit in the region. In fact, the rover successfully abraded and sampled one of the light-toned beds just last week. The space agency said that Perseverance found the strange texture in a nearby rock from this sampling workspace. 

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NASA informed that the rock has been named "St. Pauls Bay" by the team. It appeared to be comprised of hundreds of millimetre-sized, dark grey spheres. 

Some of the spheres occurred as more elongated, elliptical shapes, while others possessed angular edges, perhaps representing broken spherule fragments. Some spheres even possessed tiny pinholes. Scientists are stunned by what geological process could produce these strange shapes. 

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See images here: 

spider eggs on planet mars
NASA's Mars Perseverance rover acquired this image of the "St. Pauls Bay" target (the dark-toned float block in the right of the view) using its Left Mastcam-Z. Perseverance acquired this image on March 13, 2025. Photograph: (nasa.gov)

 

mars spider eggs
This image from NASA's Mars Perseverance rover, a fusion-processed SuperCam Remote Micro Imager (RMI) mosaic, shows part of the "St. Pauls Bay". Photograph: (nasa.gov)

Strange objects on Mars 

This is not the first time scientists have spotted strange-looking objects on Mars as the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity spotted so-called, "Martian Blueberries" at Meridiani Planum in 2004. The Curiosity rover has observed spherules in the rocks of Yellowknife Bay at Gale crater. In 2024, Perseverance found popcorn-like textures in sedimentary rocks exposed in the Jezero crater inlet channel, Neretva Vallis. 

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Perseverance Mars rover 

The Perseverance Mars rover has been exploring Mars since its landing on February 18, 2021. Its main goal is to search for signs of ancient microbial life and collect samples of rock and regolith for a possible return to Earth. 

The rover is equipped with seven instruments, including a radar system called RIMFAX. It also has a robotic arm with a turret that can analyze geologic samples from the Martian surface. 

Perseverance landed in the Jezero crater, which scientists believe was once flooded with water and home to an ancient river delta. The crater is about 28 miles wide and is located on the western edge of a flat plain called Isidis Planitia. 

(With inputs from agencies)