Space is exciting. It fascinated humans for centuries. However, there is so little that we know about what is truly going on out there.
One of the hottest subjects of the moment is Mars. There is a lot of hype around the red planet, as some people hope that we will soon colonize it. Others believe that there once was life on Mars, which led multiple scientists to search tirelessly for evidence.
However, though there are multiple mysteries, we are slowly making progress towards learning all the truth. One of the latest details about Mars comes from an extraordinary image.
The image was recently made public by the space agency.
It depicts a sea of dark dunes carved by the wind in the shape of some very long lines. They surround Mars’ northern polar cap and cover a vast area, nearly as big as Texas.
The picture is a false-colour image. That means that the areas with cooler temperatures are depicted with blue tints, while warmer areas are pictured with yellow and orange tints.
The dark dunes are warmed by the Sun, which makes them glow with a golden colour.
The picture depicts an area that is approximately 19 miles (roughly 30 kilometres) wide.
The picture depicts images taken between December 2002 to November 2004 by the Thermal Emission Imaging System instrument on the Mars Odyssey orbiter.
It is part of a unique set of images marking the 20th anniversary of Odyssey, the Mars spacecraft with the longest service in history.
The pictured location can be found on the red planet at 80.3 degrees north latitude and 172.1 degrees east longitude.
