mars
September 12, 2016
A Piece of Mars: This 480×270 m (0.3×0.17 mi) scene shows the contact between two very different terrains. On the left is a bright surface with polygonal cracks (characteristic of periglacial terrain – this is at a high latitude). On […]
May 19, 2014
A piece of Mars: Several years ago, a guy named Richard Hoagland claimed that some parallel linear features on Mars looked like the ridges of a transparent earthworm, calling these things “glass worms”. Phil Plait debunked it nicely, but Hoagland […]
October 9, 2012
A piece of Mars: I just adore that the wind can do this to a landscape. Over a long period of time, two different winds have scratched deep grooves in a rocky surface. Wind-carved rocks like this are called “yardangs”. […]
October 4, 2012
A piece of Mars: Steep slopes in some parts of Mars are prone to very thin landslides that leave behind dark tracks. The landslides may be triggered by the wind or nearby impacts. They always move downslope — in this […]
August 28, 2012
A piece of Gale crater, Mars: Here is a tiny piece of feathery terrain way up high on Mt. Sharp, the mountain that Curiosity will one day climb. This is a special unit of fine-grained material that has weathered into […]
August 24, 2012
A piece of Gale crater, Mars: Here are some of the large, dark dunes not far from where Curiosity has landed. They’re pretty big monsters, 200-300 meters across. Their shape indicates they’ve been formed from two different wind directions: one […]
August 11, 2012
A piece of Gale crater, Mars (Aug 11, 2012): This is a tiny portion of the ancient river channel that Curiosity will use to climb up Mt. Sharp in the coming year. It’s a fascinating place, full of pale fractured […]
August 10, 2012
A piece of Gale crater, Mars: These are rocks on Mount Sharp, where the Curiosity rover will be headed in the coming months. Like many of the surfaces in Gale crater, these have been streamlined by sandblasting over the eons. […]
July 16, 2012
A piece of Mars: Most of the image, stretching beyond the edges of this frame, shows a bland gray landscape of lava blanketed in dust. But one small patch of blue shows where sand is still actively moving and piling […]