Mars is one of the most mysterious and captivating planets in our solar system, famous for its distinctive red hue and two moons.
Today, robotic explorers roam the Red Planet, exploring its surface and taking breathtaking images that reveal its otherworldly splendor. Scientists use these photographs to map out and understand its history.
1. The Red Desert
The Red Desert of Mars is an enormous expanse of red sands, mountains, canyons and craters on its surface. It is an inhospitable environment where strong winds erode away at its sand to produce giant dust storms which cover an extensive area.
NASA reports that the striking red hue of Mars’ surface can be traced back to iron-rich minerals found in its regolith – loose rocks and dust covering its surface – that oxidize or rust over time and give its surface its striking hue.
Mars does not possess an atmosphere thick enough to enable water to remain on its surface for extended periods, though there have been indications of past flooding on its surface. Nevertheless, there have been indications of past water sources on Mars.
Many valley networks and outflow channels on Mars may be evidence of ancient river systems. This suggests it had a much warmer, wetter past when more likely had flowing water on its surface.
Red Planet’s frozen surface is kept secure by its cryosphere – an icy shell surrounding the planet that acts like Earth’s permafrost – to keep any liquid groundwater from reaching the planet surface and entering into its atmosphere.
2. The Red Hills
Red Hills have long been one of the most striking features on Mars, inspiring both scientists and science fiction lovers alike.
In fact, this region has provided the backdrop to numerous books and films. Boasting stunning rock formations as well as some of the oldest wildlife on Earth, its beauty has inspired both fiction and film alike.
Red Hills are home to many species, such as the Red Hills salamander (RHS), one of the world’s largest lungless salamanders that’s commonly mistaken as endangered but is actually quite plentiful.
Red Hills boast an abundance of grasses, wildflowers, and shrubs due to its soil being rich in calcium and magnesium sulfates – similar to Epsom salts – which offer many human health benefits.
The area’s striking hues come from iron oxide in its rocks, which turns bright red when exposed to oxygen. Furthermore, this region is well known for its dramatic impact craters which form when large pieces of rock strike the surface and explode upon impact with oxygen.
3. The Martian Sunset
One of the most stunning aspects of Mars is its breathtaking sunset, an experience which has long mesmerised humans since NASA sent its first lander there in 1976.
As sunlight slips beneath the Martian horizon, fine dust in the atmosphere absorbs blue wavelengths of light emitted by the Sun to produce beautiful Martian sunsets with blue tinted skies near its source.
NASA has captured some fascinating and bluish sunsets on Mars due to these particles scattering blue light forward and creating an aureole around the setting sun that emits blue hues, leading to strange sunsets with vivid bluish hues.
Recent weeks, NASA has provided us with some stunning photographs from Curiosity rover’s mast camera taken during its 956th Martian day on April 15 – such as this image captured on April 15.
Image Description: It’s an exquisitely moody photograph that shows a rover’s solar array and robotic arm against a bright red sunset on Mars, serving as a reminder that even robots cannot escape its beauty.
As well as taking breathtaking sunset photographs, the rovers are studying clouds in order to assess how high Mars dust extends into the atmosphere and look out for any ice or dust clouds that might exist on Mars. Their data will allow scientists to gain more insight into weather and climate on planet.
4. The Martian Sky
Mars, a rocky planet that first emerged into view during early telescopic observations, has long been an object of fascination to astronomers. Its mysterious motion across the sky, often prograde (in the direction of the Sun) but sometimes retrograde (opposite), perplexed ancient astronomers until empirical deduced by Johannes Kepler.
Mars is one of the most captivating planets in our solar system, boasting cold desert terrain dotted with rusty iron oxide dust that is susceptible to being stirred up into massive duststorms by winds.
Mars’ atmosphere is much thinner than that of Earth and thus people from our planet would not be able to breathe there, with average surface temperatures around minus 80 degrees Fahrenheit.
Mars may have once had liquid water on its surface despite its cold and harsh environment; this may have taken the form of shallow lakes or deep craters; permanent or temporary reservoirs of water may even exist on its polar caps, composed primarily of carbon dioxide ice.
5. The Martian Clouds
Mars Clouds play a pivotal role in its climate, providing important temperature regulation at high altitudes by as much as 10 degrees Celsius (18 Fahrenheit). Their height may even have an impactful impact.
Martian clouds typically consist of frozen water ice that shimmers with light when reflecting off them, like snowflake-shaped collections of it seen above Olympus Mons, one of the largest volcanoes in our solar system, as well as other parts of Mars.
However, new research has demonstrated that clouds also form at higher altitudes where it’s very cold; these clouds may even contain frozen carbon dioxide instead of water ice!
Mars clouds form due to a closed-cell convection process that occurs in its dry atmosphere, similar to what occurs here on Earth when hot air rises while dense and cool air descends in cells.
6. The Martian Dust Devils
Dust devils, or vortices of air rising above a solar-heated Martian surface during the daytime hours, form vortices which lift air off the surface while whipping up dust in tornado-like whirlwinds (click here for videos produced by NASA’s Mars Rover Spirit).
Although they don’t cause the massive dust storms that blanket Mars, whirlwinds play an integral part of its weather and climate. Knowing their ways helps scientists predict where they might strike next.
Whirlwinds on Mars can sometimes become so powerful that they are capable of ripping off solar panels from other Mars rovers such as Opportunity and Spirit and rendering its batteries powerless. Furthermore, there may also be strong electrical charges present that cause their missions to come to a premature halt.
Scientists conducted the first ever analysis of an encounter between a dust devil and a rover using its microphone to record soundwaves heard by both devices. This enabled them to assess its size, direction, and location – ultimately discovering that this dust devil towered more than 387 feet 118 meters tall and spread 82 feet (25 meters wide – approximately 10 times bigger than Perseverance!
7. The Martian Landscape
Mars’ surface is an intriguing combination of features similar to those on Earth as well as those unique to it. The planet can be divided into two zones, low uncratered plains in the northern hemisphere and tall, old cratered regions in its southern half.
Not all features on a planet’s surface can be easily identified without using a telescope, though. For instance, Martian polar caps can be identified using an 8-inch telescope, though smaller instruments may render them hard to spot.
However, they can be easily seen during opposition windows (the months surrounding 16 January 2025, 19 February 2027 and 25 March 2029). Dust storms may obstruct observations.
With a telescope, other features that can be seen include giant outflow channels that cross the escarpment between the highlands of the South and low northern plains – these impressive channels span 1000km long by 100 km wide in some instances.
Mars appears to have experienced its most recent water-related activity within the last 10 million years, when short-lived ice caps and glaciers likely formed as a result of precipitation combined with groundwater seepage.