Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                               2020 August 29

                             Martian Chiaroscuro
              Image Credit: HiRISE, MRO, LPL (U. Arizona), NASA

   Explanation: Deep shadows create dramatic contrasts between light and
   dark in this high-resolution close-up of the martian surface. Recorded
   on January 24, 2014 by the HiRISE camera on board the Mars
   Reconnaissance Orbiter, the scene spans about 1.5 kilometers. From 250
   kilometers above the Red Planet the camera is looking down at a sand
   dune field in a southern highlands crater. Captured when the Sun was
   about 5 degrees above the local horizon, only the dune crests were
   caught in full sunlight. A long, cold winter was coming to the southern
   hemisphere and bright ridges of seasonal frost line the martian dunes.
   The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, one of the oldest operating spacecraft
   at the Red Planet, celebrated the 15th anniversary of its launch from
   planet Earth on August 12.

                 Tomorrow's picture: cathedral to the stars
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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                             & Michigan Tech. U.


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