A World of Snowy Dunes on Mars

A World of Snowy Dunes on Mars

It was spring in the Northern hemisphere when this image was taken on May 21, 2017, at 13:21 local Mars time, by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Over the winter, snow and ice have inexorably covered the dunes. Unlike on Earth, this snow and ice is carbon dioxide, better known to us as dry ice.

When the Sun starts shining on it in the spring, the ice on the smooth surface of the dune cracks and escaping gas carries dark sand out from the dune below, often creating beautiful patterns. On the rough surface between the dunes, frost is trapped behind small sheltered ridges.

Image Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona
Explanation from: https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/jpl/a-world-of-snowy-dunes

Popular posts from this blog

The Milky Way Galaxy

Image
This artist's rendering shows a view of our own Milky Way Galaxy and its central bar as it might appear if viewed from above. An arrow indicates the location of our Sun. Astronomers have concluded for many years that our galaxy harbors a stellar bar, though its presence has been inferred indirectly. Our vantage point within the disk of the galaxy makes it difficult to accurately determine the size and shape of this bar and surrounding spiral arms. New observations by the GLIMPSE legacy team with NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope indicate that the bar-shaped collection of old stars at the center of our galaxy may be longer, and at a different orientation, than previously believed. The newly-deduced size and angle of the bar are shown relative to our Sun's location. Our Milky Way galaxy may appear to be very different from an ordinary spiral galaxy. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/R. Hurt (SSC) Explanation from: http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/images/2353-sig05-010a-Milky-Way-Bar
Read more

Solar Eclipse seen from Oregon

Image
The last glimmer of the Sun is seen as the Moon makes its final move over the Sun during the total solar eclipse on Monday, August 21, 2017 above Madras, Oregon. A total solar eclipse swept across a narrow portion of the contiguous United States from Lincoln Beach, Oregon to Charleston, South Carolina. A partial solar eclipse was visible across the entire North American continent along with parts of South America, Africa, and Europe. Image Credit: NASA/Aubrey Gemignani Explanation from: https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/last-glimmer-of-the-sun-above-madras-oregon-during-the-2017-total-solar-eclipse
Read more

Artist�s impression of the red supergiant star Antares

Image
This artist�s impression shows the red supergiant star Antares in the constellation of Scorpius. Using ESO�s Very Large Telescope Interferometer astronomers have constructed the most detailed image ever of this, or any star other than the Sun. Using the same data they have also made the first map of the velocities of material the atmosphere of a star other than the Sun. Image Credit: ESO/M. Kornmesser Explanation from: https://www.eso.org/public/images/eso1726b/
Read more