Dark shapes and bright spots on sand dunes in Mars’ North Pole region. (Harvard University's John A. Paulson School Of Engineering And Applied Sciences)
Though it's a cold, dead planet, Mars still has its own natural beauty about it. This image shows us something we'll never see on Earth.
Mars has only a thin, tenuous atmosphere, and most of it (95%) is carbon dioxide. When Martian winter arrives, CO2 freezes and forms a thick coating on the ground in the polar regions. It lies there dormant for months.
As spring approaches, temperatures gradually warm. Sunlight passes through the translucent frozen layer of CO2, warming the ground beneath it. READ MORE...
