APOD
Astronomy Picture of the Day
Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.
Polar Polygons on Mars
Explanation: What's the best way to the city center? What looks like a street map of some city on Earth is actually a series of naturally-formed fragmented polar polygons on Mars . The existence of polar polygons on Mars is particularly interesting as they may indicate regions where water ice lies within a few meters of the surface. Similar looking polygons are commonly found in the arctic and Antarctic of Earth, where they typically form from a repetitive cycle of freezing and thawing. The above image spans a distance of about 3 kilometers and was taken recently by the orbiting Mars Global Surveyor .
| Date | July 14, 2004 |
|---|---|
| Credit | Credit & Copyright: Malin Space Science Systems , MOC , MGS , JPL , NASA |
| Authors & editors: | Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP) |
| A service of: |
ASD at NASA / GSFC, NASA Science Activation & Michigan Tech. U. |



