HiRISE, our Martian orbiter, released a handful of stunning new hi-res photographs of the surface of Mars today. Man do I love this project!
"If you look closely at the crater wall, you can see streaks going down the slope in many different areas. These are slope streaks which are thought to form from dust avalanches that remove a thin layer of bright dust from the surface" -HiRISE
Click to embiggen. This pic is huge.
OMG IS THAT A SQUID ON MARS!? Maybe it's just a ancient Martian umbrella? No, it's definitely a Martian Land Squid. Must be evidence that Cthulu is living on Mars!
(just kidding of course)
Image Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona
Also from HiRISE today:
"This observation shows a small crater within the much larger Newton Crater, and is approximately 6 kilometers across." -HiRISE
Click to embiggen. This is my current computer wallpaper.
Image Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona
Third from HiRISE today, particularly awesome not only for the explanation, but also for the depth and contrast in color:
"Dry Ice Gone Wild"
"On Mars the seasonal polar caps are composed of dry ice (carbon dioxide). In the springtime as the sun shines on the ice, it turns from solid to gas and causes erosion of the surface. I enjoy the incredible diversity of forms that the erosion takes, and am studying the factors that give us "spiders", "caterpillars", or "starbursts", all colloquial words for what we rigorously name "araneiform" terrain." -HiRISE
Click to embiggen.
Image Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona
Today ESA shares an animation of a swirling storm around the southern pole of Venus.
"New analysis of images taken by ESA's Venus Express orbiter has revealed surprising details about the remarkable, shape-shifting collar of clouds that swirls around the planet's South Pole." -ESA
Animation Credit: ESA/VIRTIS-VenusX/INAF-IASF/LESIA-Obs. Paris/ Univ. Lisbon/Univ. Evora (D. Luz, Univ. Lisbon & D. Berry, Univ. Evora)
Last but not least, a stunning artist's impression of a star and an orbiting planet, posted today on Space.com in their article:
"Starquakes and Eclipses: NASA Spacecraft Provides Star Mystery 'Treasure Trove'"
"In a pair of new studies, astronomers announced discoveries gleaned from Kepler measurements of distant starlight. In one report, researchers detected minuscule brightness oscillations in 500 sunlike stars — work that could help lay the foundation for a more robust understanding of star composition and evolution, according to the research team." -Space.com
Image Credit: Science/AAAS; courtesy of G. Perez, IAC, SMM
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