Graceful isolated dunes at the edge of the sea of dunes that surrounds Mars’ north ice cap
Click for original image.
Cool image time! The picture to the right cropped, reduced, and sharpened to post here, was taken on January 29, 2025 by the high resolution camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). I have also rotated it so north is up. Labeled simply as a “terrain sample,” it was likely taken not as part of any specific research request but to fill a gap in the schedule in order to maintain the camera’s proper temperature.
In this case the timing allowed the camera team to capture this breath-taking picture of these graceful arching dunes sitting in what is likely the near-surface ice sheet that covers much of the red planet’s high latitudes. That sheet is not pure ice, but a complex mixture of ice, dirt, dust, and sand, covered during the winter by a thin mantle of dry ice.
The isolated dunes appear to be ridges sticking up from that flat terrain, but this impression is probably incorrect, based on the location.
The center of the white cross on the left center of the overview map to the right marks the position, on the edge of the vast dune sea that surrounds the polar ice cap of the Martian north pole. This section of that encircling dune sea is dubbed Abalos Undae, and it is believed, based on the prevailing winds (as indicated by the black arrows), that the sand for this section comes from the location marked by the yellow cross. The wind pulls the sand from the many layers of mixed sand and ice that cover the pole, and deposits it in Abalos.
The dunes in the above picture are thus the farthest southern edge of that deposit pattern, which is why their number declines as you move south. They also sit on top of that flat terrain, with the prevailing wind, blowing from the northwest to the southeast, causing the dunes to stretch out in that direction in long flowing arcs.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon. from any other book seller, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit.
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
Click for original image.
Cool image time! The picture to the right cropped, reduced, and sharpened to post here, was taken on January 29, 2025 by the high resolution camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). I have also rotated it so north is up. Labeled simply as a “terrain sample,” it was likely taken not as part of any specific research request but to fill a gap in the schedule in order to maintain the camera’s proper temperature.
In this case the timing allowed the camera team to capture this breath-taking picture of these graceful arching dunes sitting in what is likely the near-surface ice sheet that covers much of the red planet’s high latitudes. That sheet is not pure ice, but a complex mixture of ice, dirt, dust, and sand, covered during the winter by a thin mantle of dry ice.
The isolated dunes appear to be ridges sticking up from that flat terrain, but this impression is probably incorrect, based on the location.
The center of the white cross on the left center of the overview map to the right marks the position, on the edge of the vast dune sea that surrounds the polar ice cap of the Martian north pole. This section of that encircling dune sea is dubbed Abalos Undae, and it is believed, based on the prevailing winds (as indicated by the black arrows), that the sand for this section comes from the location marked by the yellow cross. The wind pulls the sand from the many layers of mixed sand and ice that cover the pole, and deposits it in Abalos.
The dunes in the above picture are thus the farthest southern edge of that deposit pattern, which is why their number declines as you move south. They also sit on top of that flat terrain, with the prevailing wind, blowing from the northwest to the southeast, causing the dunes to stretch out in that direction in long flowing arcs.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon. from any other book seller, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
“The Legend of Sleeping Bear”
Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore
Empire, Michigan
https://youtu.be/TFz_qvakGWY