NASA's MRO captures amazing picture of avalanche on Mars

Candy Hansen
Candy Hansen NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

Over the years 'Red Planet' or Mars and its mysteries have caused curiosity in many people. Whether it is about the hidden lakes or the weird structures on the Martian surface, the space and science lovers always expressed their interest to know more about the planet. So NASA recently released another interesting image of a clearly visible avalanche on the red giant.

As per Previously released pictures taken by the Martian rover, it was clear that there are numerous sheer cliffs which look like long striations when captured from a distance.

One of the latest images of these cliffs, taken by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) spacecraft's HiRISE camera, showed a dark brown avalanche.

The dusty explosion happened because of the ice and rocks tumbling down a cliff on Mars more than 500 meter high, said NASA while describing the Martian event which which was captured on May 29 but published recently by the agency.

While explaining this phenomenon, NASA said, "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 warmth destabilizes the ice and blocks break loose."

These ice blocks are described as kicking up the cloud dust, producing the massive explosion on the Martian surface. It looks like an avalanche, but unlike the bright white one which people usually see on earth, the avalanche on Mars is dark brown which can be seen in the image that was taken at 13:14 local Mars time

But it should be mentioned that this is not the first time that NASA has snapped an avalanche on Mars. In October 2015, NASA shared an image of an avalanche halfway down a large rocky cliff. But that was a white snowy avalanche, just like those on earth.

Related topics : Nasa Space
READ MORE