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#spaceporn
An Avalanche On Mars
Here's the most violent event ever observed on Mars, tons of rock, dust and ice plummeting down a 700-meter cliff at 15 meters per second. It's one of four avalanches the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on the Mars orbiter observed on the north polar scarps of Mars. The white material at the top of the cliff is carbon-dioxide ice, and it's possible spring sunshine caused the ice to expand and break, sending loose dust and ice hurtling down the slope. Another possible explanation: A Marsquake. Click through for the full set of images. More » -
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Dust Devils Of Mars
The Martian wind has cut deep crevasses into this crater in the Terra Cimmeria region. The edges of these dunes look sort of like fins in this new image from the HiRISE camera on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. But the fins are actually double "horns" where the wind from the East hit the dunes. You can also see "dark, sinuous forms" where Martian "dust devils" pushed away the brighter dust and uncovered the darker surface. Click through for another image. More » -
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Martian Spiders Launch Dark Jets
New images give clues to the reasons for the "spiders" and "dark fans" that appear on Mars' south pole every spring. Sunlight filters through the layer of dry ice covering the pole and turns the bottom layer to gas. The gas forms spider-shaped channels trying to escape the ice, and then erupts in fan-shaped jets of white carbon dioxide and black dust. Images by HiRISE. [National Geographic]
