by |
Khaled Younes |
Monday August 01 2022 – 06:50 PM
Astronomers have spotted ripples of blue sand flooding the landscape of Mars, making the red planet look even stranger than usual.However, the striking color is not what it seems. And to see true beauty, you have to look a little deeper.
Filmed by NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter earlier this year, the scene has been treated with a so-called “false color”, transforming distinct wavelengths of light into stunning paintings we can’t help but distinguish.
And this optimization looks amazingly beautiful, but it’s not just done to stimulate Mars a bit. Processing the data in this way highlights the variation in regions and features on the surface of Mars, giving planetary scientists a really great tool for understanding geological and atmospheric processes that occur far beyond MRO’s orbital altitude.
The area imaged by MRO is called the Gamboa Crater in the northern hemisphere of Mars. Each pixel represents 25 centimeters (9.8 inches).
And the smallest ripples on top of many large hills are separated from each other by only a few feet. At some point, they merge to form small hills radiating outward from dunes at distances of about 10 meters (30 feet).
The distinctive patterns of these medium-sized structures are easy to distinguish in a sea of large sandy waves and ripples, in bright blue.
These medium-sized structures, known as aeolian ridges, consist of sand made up of very coarse particles. According to NASA, the enhanced colors of the large sand dunes and country assessment reports indicate ongoing erosion processes.
“Massive ripples appear in blue and green on one side of the enhanced chromaticity segment, while TAR appears in a brighter blue on the other side,” a spokesperson wrote on the official NASA website. This may be because the TAR is actively moving under the force of the winds. “It removes the dark dust and makes it brighter. All these different features can indicate the way the wind was blowing when it formed.”
Sometimes, all you need is a little cognitive shift to learn something new and gain more appreciation for the wonders of the universe.
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