PIA04736: North Polar Dune Patterns
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows dark, windblown sand forming spectacular geometric patterns in the north polar sand seas of Mars.
 Target Name:  Mars
 Is a satellite of:  Sol (our sun)
 Mission:  Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) 
 Spacecraft:  Mars Global Surveyor Orbiter
 Instrument:  Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) 
 Product Size:  601 x 902 pixels (w x h) 
 Produced By:  Malin Space Science Systems 
 Full-Res TIFF:  PIA04736.tif (542.9 kB)
 Full-Res JPEG:  PIA04736.jpg (89 kB)  

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Original Caption Released with Image:

MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-478, 9 September 2003

Dark, windblown sand forms spectacular geometric patterns in the north polar sand seas, particularly in regions where strong winds converge from different directions over the course of a year. This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) picture shows some of these dark dune patterns near 77.8°N, 284.4°W. The picture covers an area 3 km (1.9 mi) across and is illuminated by sunlight from the lower left.

Image Credit:
NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems

Image Addition Date:
2003-09-12