From the description:

HiPOD 26 May 2023: Fans Both Light and Dark

This image is part of a longterm seasonal monitoring site with lots of long bright and dark fans. These are formed as a result of sublimation, when subsurface ice is transformed by sunlight into a gaseous state and exposes the underneath darker material. This is subsequently blown about by the wind and the fans will fade over time.

ID: ESP_073543_0925
date: 4 April 2022
altitude: 247 km

NASA/JPL-Caltech/UArizona

About Beautiful Mars:

Images and posts from HiRISE, the high resolution camera onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO, NASA). We are based at the University of Arizona in Tucson, AZ.
Enhanced color pictures are 1 km across; black and white are less than 5 km.
Visit our site: uahirise.org

  • thrawn@lemmy.worldM
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    1 year ago

    Wow how interesting, really does feel quite the alien landscape. So if I’m understanding right, the scale across this photo is 1km?

    I wonder how long it takes for the fans to fade, as I was struck by how consistent the prevailing winds are.

    • Crul@lemmy.worldOP
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      1 year ago

      the scale across this photo is 1km?

      That’s also what I understand. But I haven’t looked too much into the technical details. I know the colors in the pictures are sometimes 100% fake… on purpose to ilustrate some specific aspect of the picture.