The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) takes daily snapshots of the Red Planet’s surface in stunning detail. The Mars pictures are then showcased by the University of Arizona in a “Picture of the Day” gallery. On Sunday, December 1, the university’s astronomers shared a striking image of sand dunes and rocks formed from ancient Martian volcanism

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The Mars picture was taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment or HiRISE.

HiRISE is a joint operation between NASA and the University of Arizona designed to study the evolution of Mars’ landscape.

In its latest picture, the instrument photographed sand dunes in one of the largest canyon systems in the solar system.

The HiRISE team said: “This colour-infrared image shows sand dunes in Melas Chasma, located within the Valles Marineris canyon system.

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