Mars Like You've Never Seen It
Mars, the fourth planet from the Sun, is commonly referred to as the "red planet." But images from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera (HIRISE for short) onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter reveal surprising colors.
The dune field in the northeast portion of Russell Crater is roughly 30 kilometers long, and appears to have formed from windblown material trapped by the local topography. This image was taken during the southern hemisphere's deep winter, where temperatures are low enough to allow the carbon dioxide frost to be stable. The frost is apparent primarily on the slopes that do not experience full sunlight.
Is that an ice-skating rink? Nope, just a dune field in Bunge Crater on Mars.
In the winter, these dunes in an unnamed crater east of Proctor Crater are covered with seasonal carbon dioxide frost (dry ice). In the spring, the frost gradually evaporates but lingers in protected regions. In this color image bright ice deposits in sheltered areas highlight the ripples on the dunes.
Gullies and ridges cover much of Mars. Dust and water frost, like the bright areas, make up these formations.
Surf's up? It may look like a great time to grab your surf board on the West Coast, but that's actually dark sand covering bright bedrock in the Terra Meridiani region of Mars. It's likely the basaltic sand formed from the breakup of volcanic rock.
A portion of the central sedimentary deposits in Pasteur Crater is now eroding. Wind-blown dust may have caused the appearance of the deposits.
Was someone off-roading on Mars? These north polar layered deposits probably contain ice and dust layers. The darker layers likely hold more dust than the brighter layers.
NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter took this picture, which is quite the optical illusion: What appears to be trees rising from the Martian surface are actually dark streaks of collapsed material running down sand dunes due to carbon dioxide frost evaporation.
No, Mars didn't get hit by an oil spill too. The planet's south polar cap has various surfaces. During the spring, shown here, Mars' surface is covered by carbon dioxide frost.
Gullies of all elevation and sizes have formed in a crater in Terra Sirenum.
Images from NASA's rovers have given us a clear view of what it would be like to stand on Mars -- dusty, red and dry. Here, we the Spirit rover records a view across Gustev crater. But the view from outer space presents a very different view of the nearby planet.
The approximately 800-meter Victoria Crater lies near the equator of Mars and is home to sand dunes resting on its floor. The rim's shape is caused by erosion and the downhill movement of the crater wall.
These north-polar layered deposits are found in Chasma Boreale, a large canyon on Mars. It's likely that water ice is responsible for the color pattern. Images like these are useful in understanding the planet's recent climate variations.
Tis' the Season. This is what a crater in Mars' southern hemisphere looks like during winter. The bright colors are either carbon dioxide or water frost.
This image shows dark sand dunes in Chasma Boreale, a giant trough that cuts into the north polar ice cap for 570 kilometers (350 miles) forming a broad valley bordered by stacked layers of ice. These dark dunes are barchan dunes also commonly found on Earth -- crescent-shaped with a steep slip face bordered by horns oriented downwind. Barchan dunes form by uni-directional winds and thus are good indicators of the dominant wind direction.
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