Advertisement
UK markets closed
  • NIKKEI 225

    40,168.07
    -594.66 (-1.46%)
     
  • HANG SENG

    16,541.42
    +148.58 (+0.91%)
     
  • CRUDE OIL

    83.11
    -0.06 (-0.07%)
     
  • GOLD FUTURES

    2,254.80
    +16.40 (+0.73%)
     
  • DOW

    39,807.37
    +47.29 (+0.12%)
     
  • Bitcoin GBP

    56,124.07
    +1,376.71 (+2.51%)
     
  • CMC Crypto 200

    885.54
    0.00 (0.00%)
     
  • NASDAQ Composite

    16,379.46
    -20.06 (-0.12%)
     
  • UK FTSE All Share

    4,338.05
    +12.12 (+0.28%)
     

NASA shares breathtaking image of a wind-sculpted sea of blue dunes on Mars taken by the Odyssey orbiter

blue dunes on mars
A sea of dark dunes, sculpted by the wind into long lines, surrounds Mars' northern polar cap. NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU
  • NASA shared an image of dunes surrounding Mars' northern polar cap.

  • The false-color image shows a sea of blue dunes and yellow wind-sculpted lines on the red planet.

  • The photo has been released to mark the 20th anniversary of the Mars Odyssey orbiter.

  • See more stories on Insider's business page.

On Thursday, NASA released a stunning photo of a sea of dunes on Mars.

It also shows wind-sculpted lines surrounding Mars' frosty northern polar cap.

The section captured in the shot represents an area that is 19 miles wide, NASA said. The sea of dunes, however, actually covers an area as large as Texas.

ADVERTISEMENT

The photo is a false color image, meaning that the colors are representative of temperatures. Blue represents cooler climes, and the shades of yellow mark out "sun-warmed dunes," the US space agency wrote.

Watch: NASA reschedules the flight of Ingenuity Mars Helicopter

Read more: Real-estate investors are already circling homes in the Texas border town where Elon Musk said there would be 'several thousand' jobs

The photo is made of a combination of images captured by the Thermal Emission Imaging System instrument on the Mars Odyssey orbiter, NASA wrote.

Captured during the period from December 2002 to November 2004, the breathtaking images have been released to mark the 20th anniversary of Odyssey.

The Mars Odyssey orbiter is a robotic spacecraft circling Mars that uses a thermal imager to detect evidence of water and ice on the planet.

It was launched in 2001, making it the longest-working Mars spacecraft in history.

Read the original article on Business Insider