Painting with Frost

Subtle variations in color look like brush strokes as the lightly frosted terrain reflects light. These variations provide a backdrop to some exotic features referred to colloquially as "spiders."

The radial channels branching out from a central depression are formed when the seasonal layer of dry ice turns to gas in the spring and erodes the surface, which is a uniquely Martian landform.

The University of Arizona, Tucson, operates HiRISE, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colo. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington.