December 19, 2016
A Piece of Mars: A low, broad dune occupies the center of this 800×450 m (0.5×0.28 mi) scene, blown by a dominant wind towards the lower left. The slip face on the lee side has several small avalanches, formed as […]
December 12, 2016
A Piece of Mars: Higher ground is to the left. You’re seeing a tan layer sandwiched between two gray layers in this 0.96×0.54 km (0.6×0.34 mi) scene. Large ripples have accumulated in the lowest area to the right, which is […]
December 5, 2016
A Piece of Mars: Martian spiders, or araneiforms, are geological structures found at high latitudes on Mars. The dark splotch with branching arms in this 0.48×0.27 km (0.3×0.17 mi) scene is a good example. They form in the springtime, when […]
November 28, 2016
A Piece of Mars: The dunes climbing over a rocky surface in this 0.96×0.54 km (0.6×0.34 mi) scene are mostly yellow because they’re covered (and therefore kept immobile) by dust. The crest of one dune, though, shows recent activity: dark […]
November 21, 2016
A Piece of Mars: Dunes and ripples most commonly form in topographic lows. But not in this 0.96×0.54 km (0.6×0.34 mi) scene. Here, and in other places on Mars, these bedforms (called TARs) form on plains, and sometimes appear to […]
November 14, 2016
A Piece of Mars: Bright material (either dust or sand) has accumulated in the lee of wagon- to car-sized boulders in this 0.96×0.54 km (0.6×0.34 mi) scene. It’s perhaps something like the Rocknest sand shadow that Curiosity visited a few […]
November 7, 2016
A Piece of Mars: Wind from the upper left is blowing dark dunes toward the lower right in this 1.92×1.08 km (1.19×0.67 mi) anaglyph (if you don’t have your red/blue 3D glasses handy, you can also check out the black […]
October 31, 2016
A Piece of Mars: This 1.6×2 km (1×1.24 mi) scene mostly shows what wind will do to fine-grained, weakly-consolidated surfaces. It has created topography that further strengthens wind scour in the hollows, which even leave kilometers-long grooves reminiscent of water-carved […]
October 10, 2016
A Piece of Mars: OK, you have to bring out the red/blue glasses for this one. (Or click here if you’re missing your glasses and want the black and white version.) Eberswalde crater has some lovely layered deposits, long ago […]