Space photo of the week: Stunning sand dunes slash across Mars' polar ice cap

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This stunning image of dune fields near Mars' north polar ice cap, taken by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, showcases the impact of polar winds on the Red Planet's landscape.

An aerial view of waving sand dunes
Strong winds from the polar cap have created long, parallel dunes closest to it, while those farther away are crescent-shaped. (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona)

What it is: Dunes on Mars

Where it is: Around Planum Boreum, the north polar ice cap on Mars

As it swoops around the Red Planet, MRO searches for evidence that there was once widespread water on Mars' surface and traces how much dust and water are distributed in its atmosphere, according to NASA. Originally taken on Sept. 1, 2008, and reshared this week, this image shows a dune field near the base of Mars' north polar ice cap, Planum Boreum. About 620 miles (1,000 kilometers) in diameter, it contains canyons, chasms and spiral troughs, according to NASA. Encircling the ice cap are large, windblown dune fields that may form from the dusty ice layers eroded by strong polar winds.

Related: Bizarre sand dunes on Mars are 'almost perfectly circular,' and scientists don't know why

In this image, winds from the polar cap have created long, parallel dunes closest to it and crescent-shaped dunes farther away. The dunes lack frost because the image was taken during summer in Mars' northern hemisphere.

An aerial view of sand dunes

An uncropped version of the photo. (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona)

MRO delivers the most beautiful, extreme-close-up photography of the Martian surface. Its previous images include almost perfectly circular sand dunes and rocks that look like a teddy bear.

MRO launched on Aug. 12, 2005, and began orbiting Mars on March 12, 2006. Its primary mission ended in 2010, but it still forms part of NASA's communications network at Mars and sends back images from HiRISE. UA's Lunar Planetary Laboratory plans HiRISE's images, sends commands, and processes raw data into images.

Jamie Carter
Jamie Carter
Live Science contributor

Jamie Carter is a Cardiff, U.K.-based freelance science journalist and a regular contributor to Live Science. He is the author of A Stargazing Program For Beginners and co-author of The Eclipse Effect, and leads international stargazing and eclipse-chasing tours. His work appears regularly in Space.com, Forbes, New Scientist, BBC Sky at Night, Sky & Telescope, and other major science and astronomy publications. He is also the editor of WhenIsTheNextEclipse.com.