# @nasa on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/Ct6vaiOO5Vs
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/7748685-nasa-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/thumbnails/425194ebb3.jpg
- **Posted:** 2023-06-25T15:08:28.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** NASA (@NASA) — https://gondola.cc/NASA

## Caption

You’ve never seen Mars like this. 👀


Our MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN) mission got some stunning tie-dye views of Mars in these two ultraviolet images. MAVEN took the first image in July 2022 during the southern hemisphere’s summer season, which occurs when Mars passes closest to the Sun. The second image is of Mars’ northern hemisphere and was taken in January 2023 after Mars had passed the farthest point in its orbit from the Sun.


MAVEN has a special instrument that lets us see Mars in ultraviolet wavelengths called the Imaging Ultraviolet Spectrograph, or IUVS. Viewing the planet with IUVS can give us insight into the atmosphere on Mars and let us see surface features in remarkable ways.


We can’t see ultraviolet wavelengths with our eyes, so these images are rendered with the varying brightness levels of three ultraviolet wavelength ranges represented as red, green, and blue. In this color scheme, atmospheric ozone appears purple, while clouds and hazes appear white or blue. The surface can appear tan or green, depending on how the images have been optimized to increase contrast and show detail.


Image description:


Image 1: Mars looks like it has been dyed in soft, muted yellows, greens, and purples. The deep canyons of Valles Marineris appear at top left filled with clouds (colored tan in this image). Argyre Basin, one of Mars’ deepest craters, appears at bottom left filled with atmospheric haze (shown here as pale pink). The southern polar ice cap is visible at bottom in white, shrinking from the relative warmth of summer.


Image 2: Here, Mars’ colors are much more vibrant. Ozone, which appears magenta in this UV view (at top), has built up during the northern winter’s chilly polar nights. White clouds appear in the north polar region, thanks to rapidly changing seasons. The rest of the planet is mostly green. Finally, the deep canyons of Valles Marineris can be seen in tan at lower left, along with many craters.


Credit: NASA/LASP/CU Boulder



#Mars #NASA #Tiedye #Color #Ultraviolet

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## Tags

ultraviolet, color, nasa, mars, tiedye

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