Mars marvel: Stunning image of the Red Planet in winter




Swirling with a myriad of shapes and textures this stunning image shows the surface of Mars in extraordinary detail.



These dunes seen within a crater on the planet were picked out by Nasa's High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRiSE) camera. The crater is in the Red Planet's southern hemisphere and it was winter at the time the picture was taken.

The brighter areas picked out by the camera on Mars are being seen as as carbon dioxide or water frost. This is generally concentrated on the east-facing slopes of the dunes, which are shadow and therefore cooler

Final preparations on HIRISE. Built under the direction of the University of Arizona it has picked up seasonal changes on the dunes of Mars

The 65kg camera is on board the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and it picked the season's changes on the dunes. HIRISE consists of a 0.5m reflecting telescope, the largest of any deep space mission.



Built under the direction of the University of Arizona if also found a number of other interesting phenomena.



The brighter areas picked out are being seen as as carbon dioxide or water frost. This is generally concentrated on the east-facing slopes of the dunes, which are shadow and therefore cooler.

Some dark spots on the dunes may be areas that have defrosted more than the surrounding terrain.

Dark-toned streaks are seen on many of the west-facing dune slopes. The general dune morphology indicates formation by westerly winds.

However, closer examination of the image shows smaller-scale ripples that appear to have been formed by winds blowing from the south and north.