Mars Like You’ve Never Seen It Before
In a stunning new book, This is Mars, editor and designer Xavier Barral makes visual magic from images captured by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
NASA / JPL / University of Arizona
Defrosting of the Crests of Inca City
Audaciously called Inca City because of its rectangular, geometric shapes evoking vestiges of habitats, these terrains have nothing reminiscent of a city or of the Inca. Their size—several kilometers—is the best proof of that. The nature of this polygonal network, unique on Mars, remains poorly understood, but seems to be linked to volcanic dykes. These terrains are close to the South pole and undergo springtime defrosting in dark patches that become progressively larger as temperatures climb.
