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PIA06795: Springtime for Dunes
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows the state of defrosting north polar sand dunes on Mars on 3 August 2004. Dark areas on the dunes are patches of bare sand; bright areas are remnants of frost deposited during the previous winter.
 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:  512 x 1562 pixels (w x h) 
 Produced By:  Malin Space Science Systems 
 Producer ID:  MOC2-810  
 Full-Res TIFF:  PIA06795.tif (800.8 kB)
 Full-Res JPEG:  PIA06795.jpg (159.6 kB)  

Click on the image above to download a moderately sized image in JPEG format (possibly reduced in size from original)

Original Caption Released with Image:

06 August 2004
The springtime retreat of the north polar seasonal frost cap is progressing on schedule. This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows the state of defrosting north polar sand dunes just three days ago on 3 August 2004. Dark areas on the dunes are patches of bare sand; bright areas are remnants of frost deposited during the previous winter. Summer will arrive on 20 September 2004. These dunes are located near 76.3°N, 263.5°W. Their steepest slopes, known as the slip face of each dune, point toward the northeast (upper right), indicating wind transport of sand from the southwest (lower left). The image covers an area about 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:
2004-08-06