Mars: 3 D Dunes
Explanation:
Get out your
red/blue glasses and treat yourself to this dramatic
3-D view of sand dunes
on Mars!
The field of undulating dunes is found in
Nili Patera, a volcanic depression in central
Syrtis Major,
the most prominent dark feature
on the Red Planet.
Two different images from the orbiting Mars Global Surveyor
spacecraft were combined to make
this stereo picture,
one taken in March 1999 and the other recorded in April 2001.
Sculpted
by winds like the sand dunes
of Earth,
these particular
Martian dunes show no change in shape over the
time separating the
two images, a period equivalent to about
one Martian year.
This cropped version of the
3-D
picture spans an area around 2 kilometers across.
Walking, you might cover that distance in about
20 minutes.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
