June 20, 2016 at 11:05 am

Picture of the Day: Frosted Sand Dunes on Mars

by twistedsifter

frosted dunes on mars nasa Picture of the Day: Frosted Sand Dunes on Mars

 

In this amazing photo taken by NASA’s High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on their Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, we see frosted sand dunes on Mars from above. The photo was taken on March 27, 2016 at 15:31 local Mars time. NASA adds:

“Sand dunes cover much of this terrain, which has large boulders lying on flat areas between the dunes. It is late winter in the southern hemisphere of Mars, and these dunes are just getting enough sunlight to start defrosting their seasonal cover of carbon dioxide. Spots form where pressurized carbon dioxide gas escapes to the surface.”

 

via NASA

 

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