Categories: MarsNASA

Martian Avalanches And Defrosting Dunes Among New Gorgeous HiRISE Images

"Defrosting of dunes with large gullies", one of the images released in February 2014 from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter's High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment. Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

As NASA’s missions at the Red Planet age, it’s so important not to take any of the pictures beamed back to Earth for granted.

The latest release of raw images from the University of Arizona’s High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, launched in 2005) is as close as most of us will get to seeing the Red Planet, and each picture captures a planet in action.

Snow, dust and wind are combining to make the incredible images you will see below. These shots, by the way, are close-ups colorized at the source; to see the full raw image, click on each picture you see below.

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“Avalanche monitoring at steep chasma boreale headscarp”, one of the images released in February 2014 from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter’s High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment. Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

“Avalanche monitoring at steep north polar scarp”, one of the images released in February 2014 from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter’s High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment. Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

“Dunes with serious slope streaks dubbed tleilax”, one of the images released in February 2014 from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter’s High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment. (“Tleilax” is a reference to Dune, a science-fiction book series most famous for the eponymous first one concerning a desert planet.) Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

“Cerberus region intracrater dune and ripple changes”, one of the images released in February 2014 from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter’s High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment. Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

Elizabeth Howell

Elizabeth Howell is the senior writer at Universe Today. She also works for Space.com, Space Exploration Network, the NASA Lunar Science Institute, NASA Astrobiology Magazine and LiveScience, among others. Career highlights include watching three shuttle launches, and going on a two-week simulated Mars expedition in rural Utah. You can follow her on Twitter @howellspace or contact her at her website.