Space & Astronomy

Mars orbiter captures photo of ice avalanche

By T.K. Randall
September 8, 2019

Image: OSIRIS Mars True Color
Credit: ESA and MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/RSSD/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA / CC BY-SA 3.0 (adapted) Released on Tuesday by the team behind the orbiter's HiRise camera, the image shows a cloud of dust where the ice has come crashing down a 500-meter-tall cliff face at the planet's North Pole.

"Every spring the sun shines on the side of the stack of layers at the North Pole of Mars known as the north polar layered deposits," the researchers wrote.

"The warmth destabilizes the ice and blocks break loose."


Source: CNET.com

Tags: Mars