Sometimes I have to really hunt around to find a picture I want to post on Tuesdays. Not today -- this is NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day from yesterday, and I loved it immediately.
It's a composite of over 100 photographs taken of Mars by Viking orbiters in the 1970's (notice a few chunks missing at the bottom), showing Valles Marineris, the largest canyon in our solar system. It's almost four times longer, and more than four times deeper, than the Grand Canyon, but the numbers don't interest me nearly as much as the beautiful colors and patterns. It looks both old and delicate, like the painted flowers and fine cracks in a very old china teacup anyone might have sitting on a shelf.
Image credit: Viking Project, USGS, NASA
No comments:
Post a Comment