PIA17984: Squiggly Sand Dunes
 Target Name:  Mars
 Is a satellite of:  Sol (our sun)
 Mission:  Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO)
 Spacecraft:  Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO)
 Instrument:  HiRISE
 Product Size:  2880 x 1800 pixels (w x h)
 Produced By:  University of Arizona/HiRISE-LPL
 Other  
Information: 
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 Full-Res TIFF:  PIA17984.tif (15.56 MB)
 Full-Res JPEG:  PIA17984.jpg (923.9 kB)

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It is now late Northern spring on Mars, so the Southern middle latitudes get very low-sun illumination that accentuates subtle topography.

This image shows sand dunes mixed with rock outcrops on the floor of a large crater. Some of the dunes have squiggly crests, which is unusual. It looks like this is due to the outcrops, which anchor the dune in places as they migrate.

HiRISE is one of six instruments on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The University of Arizona, Tucson, operates the orbiter's HiRISE camera, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colo. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for the NASA Science Mission Directorate, Washington.

Image Credit:
NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona

Image Addition Date:
2014-02-05