Photo shows Mars in true color, like you’ve never seen it before
- Mars True Color
Overcoming atmospheric challenges
The task of accurately rendering Mars’s colors from orbit is complicated by the ever-changing Martian atmosphere. Dust in the atmosphere scatters and reflects light. This phenomenon often causes color shifts between images and presenting challenges in creating a cohesive mosaic.
But this time, the HRSC team innovatively referenced each image to a color model derived from high-altitude observations. This technique preserved the natural color variations, offering us a richer and more authentic view of Mars than ever before.
Revealing true colors of Mars
Mars is often envisioned as a uniformly reddish planet, a characteristic stemming from high levels of oxidized iron. However, this mosaic reveals a more complex, true color palette that lies beneath Mars’ atmosphere.
Large expanses of Mars display dark, blue-toned hues, indicative of grey-black basaltic sands of volcanic origin. These sands, shaped and shifted by Martian winds, form extensive sand dunes and fields, particularly within impact craters.
In contrast, areas weathered by water exhibit lighter tones. Notably, clay and sulphate minerals, products of prolonged water exposure, shine brightly in these images.
Their presence, confirmed by the OMEGA spectrometer on Mars Express, suggests that liquid water once persisted on Mars, altering its landscape over time.
The discovery of these minerals in places like Mawrth Vallis, a former outflow channel, and Valles Marineris, underscores Mars’s dynamic geological past.
Source Credit and Complete Article: Earth.com
