Dunes in Nectaris Montes

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Caption:

Map Projected Browse Image
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The map is projected here at a scale of 50 centimeters (19.7 inches) per pixel.
[The original image scale is 52.4 centimeters (20.6 inches) per pixel (with 2 x 2 binning); objects on the order of 157 centimeters (62.8 inches) across are resolved.] North is up.

This image from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) shows some of these on the slopes of Nectaris Montes within Coprates Chasma. Sand dunes in Valles Marineris can be impressive in size, with steep slopes that seem to climb and descend.

The brighter bedforms are inactive while the bigger dunes move over the landscape, burying and exhuming the surface.

This is a stereo pair with ESP_054029_1650 .

Background Info:

The University of Arizona, Tucson, operates HiRISE, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colorado. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington.

Cataloging Keywords:

Name	Value	Additional Values
Target	Mars
System
Target Type	Planet
Mission	Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO)	Mariner
Instrument Host	Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
Host Type	Orbiter	Flyby Spacecraft
Instrument	High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE)
Detector
Extra Keywords	Color, Dune, Map, Mountain
Acquisition Date
Release Date	2018-05-14
Date in Caption
Image Credit	NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona
Source	photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA22455
Identifier	PIA22455