Martian and Venusian Landscapes

High-resolution images of Martian gullies, Venusian mountains, and eroded terrains, showcasing varied extraterrestrial geological features.

Martian Gullies

Assets in this Story

Martian Gullies

This Magellan full-resolution images show the northern part of the Akna Montes (mountains) of Venus.

Northeast Arabia Terra

Eroded, or 'etched' terrain dominates the field of view of this THEMIS visible image acquired over eastern Terra Meridiani.

Ganges Sedimentary Rocks

Hephaestus Troughs

This MOC image shows a group of gullies formed on the equator-facing wall of a north mid-latitude crater. Gullies such as these might have formed from the erosive forces of liquid water

This MOC image shows the termination (end) of a group of layers in the north polar region of Mars, where they have been buried by younger, smoother-surfaced material. The layers are the banded features at the right/lower right

Olympus Mons in Day

Inverted Channels

Valley near Cydonia

Lava flows south of Arsia Mons in Daedalia Planum transition from younger flows with elongated, sinuous morphologies to the northeast, to older, broader lobes and sheet flows to the southwest. This image is from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.

Modified Valleys

This observation from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows an incredible diversity of ancient lava tubes and impact craters filled with sediment on the flank of Arsia Mons.

Ius Chasma Layers

Cerberus Flood Features

Margin of Lava Flow in Daedalia Planum

Frozen Frozen CO2

Apollinaris Patera Surfaces

This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows the margin of a lava flow on a cratered plain in the Athabasca Vallis region of Mars. Remarkably, the cratered plain in this scene is essentially free of bright, windblown ripples

Ice (probably frozen nitrogen) that appears to have accumulated on the uplands on the right side of this image from NASA' New Horizons, is draining from Pluto's mountains onto the informally named Sputnik Planum.

Northeast Isidis

Features in Argyre

Features in Aureum Chaos

his image was obtained by NASA's Dawn spacecraft on July 1, 2018 from an altitude of about 29 miles (46 kilometers). The center of this picture is located at about 20.8 degrees north latitude and 241.2 degrees east longitude.

MGS MOC Returns to Service Following Solar Conjunction Hiatus

Exhumed Ridge Pattern

A Tale of 3 Craters

Nirgal Vallis is one of the largest and longest valley networks on Mars as seen by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.

Kasei Valles is a valley system was likely carved by some combination of flowing water and lava. In some areas, erosion formed cliffs along the flow path resulting in water or lava falls as seen by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft.

River drainage patterns provide clues to the rock types and erosional processes involved in landscape evolution.

Wind Streaks on Daedalia Planum

Ridges in Mars' South Polar Region

Wind-Eroded Terrain in Tharsis

Small Secondary Craters

Tithonium Chasma's Sedimentary Rocks

Crommelin Crater #1

Infrared imaging from NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows signs of layering exposed at the surface in a region of Mars called Terra Meridiani.

Ascraeus Mons Pits

Ascraeus Depression

The northern lowlands of Mars in this location are stippled with mounds, such as those visible throughout this image. These lighter-toned circular mounds with bowl-shaped depressions are easy to spot against the darker-toned floor. Scientists think these landforms are similar to mud volcanoes that are also found here on Earth. Mud volcanoes form as gas and liquid-rich sediment interacts underground. Over time, this slurry of mud is brought to the surface and forms a rounded mound. Scientists are interested in studying mud volcanoes on Mars because the material forming the mound has the potential to be organic in nature and would give insight into possible microbial life below the surface.

Work of Wind on Pavonis Mons

Nirgal Vallis and its Windblown Dunes

Various researchers are often pre-occupied with the quest for flowing water on Mars. However, this image from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), shows one of the many examples from Mars where lava (when it was molten) behaved in a similar fashion to liquid water. The northern rim of a 30-kilometer diameter crater situated in the western part of the Tharsis volcanic province is shown. The image shows that a lava flow coming from the north-northeast surrounded the crater rim, and rose to such levels that it breached the crater rim at four locations to produce spectacular multi-level lava falls (one in the northwest and three in the north). These lava falls cascaded down the wall and terraces of the crater to produce a quasi-circular flow deposit. It seems that the flows were insufficient to fill or even cover the pre-existing deposits of the crater floor. This is evidenced by the darker-toned lavas that overlie the older, and possibly dustier, lighter-toned deposits on the crater

Layered Rocks in Crater

This image captured by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows part of Siton Undae, one of the dune fields near the north polar cap.

Isidis Planitia

Apollinaris Patera Erosion

Tectonic, Volcanic and Fluvial Activity. This image shows two cross-cutting depressions that may have been formed by the collapse of weak terrain along pre-existing faults. These faults are associated with the release of volcanic material and/or liquid water. Sinuous channels are visible emanating from the large vent toward the northwest. Some of these channels transition between positive-relief and negative-relief, suggesting they were once filled with erosion-resistant material. Liquid water is known to produce similar features on Earth. https //photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA25701

Lycus Sulci Dust Avalanches

East Arabia Layers

Athabasca Streamlines

This VIS image is located on the South Polar Cap. A trough crosses the center of the image, showing the layered nature of the cap ice. This image was collected in early spring, and highlights the icy surface textures. Orbit Number 81750 Latitude -85.5564 Longitude 308.423 Instrument VIS Captured 2020-05-19 14 13

Melas Sedimentary Rocks

NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spied this small 2 kilometer-wide crater when a meteoroid struck the ground just to the west and created a new, larger crater (not shown).

This image, taken by NASA's Dawn spacecraft, shows the surface of dwarf planet Ceres from an altitude of 915 miles (1,470 kilometers) around mid-latitudes. The unusual mountain Ahuna Mons is featured here.

This view from NASA's Dawn mission shows the floor of Ceres' Juling Crater. The crater floor shows evidence of the flow of ice and rock, similar to rock glaciers in Earth's polar regions. Dawn acquired the picture with its framing camera on Aug. 30, 2016.

Mars Pathfinder Landing Site and Surroundings

Olympus Lava Flows

Ascraeus Pits

Cydonia is a region of Mars containing several hills, which has attracted attention because one of the hills resembles a face

Western Candor Chasma - Layers Exposed near the Middle

8N 7W Crater

Sulci Gordii

Sediment History Preserved in Gale Crater Central Mound

. Icy Flows. The surface of Mars is littered with examples of glacier-like landforms. While surface ice deposits are mostly limited to the polar caps, patterns of slow, viscous flow abound in many non-polar regions of Mars. Streamlines that appear as linear ridges in the surface soils and rocky debris are often exposed on top of infilling deposits that coat crater and valley floors. We see such patterns on the surfaces of Earth's icy glaciers and debris-covered rock glaciers. As ice flows downhill, rock and soil are plucked from the surrounding landscape and ferried along the flowing ice surface and within the icy subsurface. While this process is gradual, taking perhaps thousands of years or longer, it creates a network of linear patterns that reveal the history of ice flow. Later and under warmer conditions, the ice may be lost through melting or sublimation. (Sublimation is the evaporation of ice directly from solid to gas without the presence of liquid.) Rock and minerals concentra

. Bahram Vallis. Today's VIS image shows a section of Bahram Vallis. This channel is located in northern Lunae Planum, south of Kasei Valles. Bharam Vallis drains from the higher elevations of Lunae Planum towards the Chryse Planitia basin. This channel is over 300km (186 miles) long. Orbit Number 94564 Latitude 20.5977 Longitude 302.359 Instrument VIS Captured 2023-04-09 17 00

Geological faulting has opened cracks in the Cerberus region that slice through flat plains and mesas alike. This image is part of an 'All Star' set marking the occasion of NASA's Mars Odyssey as the longest-working Mars spacecraft in history.

Landslide in Aureum Chaos

This is a 2001 Mars Odyssey THEMIS IR image of an unnamed channel in northwestern Terra Cimmeria.

Buried Craters

This area of Venus northeast of Ushas Mons measures 40 by 112 kilometers (25 by 70 miles) and shows evidence of possible explosive volcanism as seen by NASA's Magellan spacecraft.

High-Resolution South Polar Cap Mosaics

Crater and Wind Streak

This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows dust plumes created by gusting winds on a plain southwest of Argyre Planitia

This perspective view of Marcia crater on the giant asteroid Vesta shows the most spectacularly preserved example of 'pitted terrain,' an unexpected discovery in data returned by NASA's Dawn mission.

Secondary Field

This 2001 Mars Odyssey THEMIS daytime infrared image shows the dissection of the rim of Holden Crater by numerous channels. Darker materials in the image are cooler than the surrounding material.

This MOC image shows a small, dust-mantled volcano on the plains east of the giant martian volcano, Pavonis Mons

This image from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter of craters near Nilokeras Scopulus shows two pits partially filled with lumpy material, probably trapped dust that blew in from the atmosphere.

Nighttime Wind Streaks

This daytime infrared image of Kaiser Crater shows warm dunes on the crater floor.

Exhumed Craters

Unparallel Lines Give Unparalleled Clues

Reull Vallis

THEMIS Images as Art #55

This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows gullies formed in the wall of a depression located on the floor of Rabe Crater west of the giant impact basin, Hellas Planitia

This image captured by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows part of Tractus Catena, just one of many north/south trending tectonic graben located south of Alba Mons.

They look like bushes! That's what almost everyone says when they see the dark features found in pictures taken of sand dunes in the polar regions as they are beginning to defrost after a long, cold winter. It is hard to escape the fact that, at first glance, these images acquired by the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) over both polar regions during the spring and summer seasons, do indeed resemble aerial photographs of sand dune fields on Earth -- complete with vegetation growing on and around them! Of course, this is not what the features are, as we describe below and in related picture captions. Still, don't they look like vegetation to you Shown here are two views of the same MGS MOC image. On the left is the full scene, on the right is an expanded view of a portion of the scene on the left. The bright, smooth surfaces that are dotted with occasional, nearly triangular dark spots are sand dunes covered by winter frost. The MGS MOC has been used over the past se

The two linear depressions in this image from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft form part of the Elysium Fossae complex, a group of troughs located in the Elysium quadrangle of Mars.

Alba Patera Collapse Pits

Giant Polygon Troughs, Elysium Planitia

Melas Chasma is the widest segment of the Valles Marineris canyon, and is an area where NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has detected the presence of sulfates.

Olympica Fossae

NASA's Magellan synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imaged this unique 'triplet crater,' or 'crater field' during orbits 418-421 on Sept. 21, 1990. The three craters appear to have relatively steep walls.

Marte Vallis

In the center of this 300-mile (470-kilometer) wide image of Pluto from NASA's New Horizons spacecraft is a large region of jumbled, broken terrain on the northwestern edge of the vast, icy plain informally called Sputnik Planum, to the right.

Layered Yardangs in Henry Crater

The interplay of bright and dark material at the rim of Marcia crater on Vesta is visible in this image mosaic taken by NASA's Dawn spacecraft. The bright and dark material appear to be exposed from weathering.

A HiRISE observation in 2010 covered a new impact crater that formed after December 2007 and before August 2010, based on Context Camera images. HiRISE has been re-imaging these sites to see how rapidly the dark ejecta and blast zone markings disappear as dust is deposited or redistributed.

Portion of wrinkle ridge extending from Mons Hansteen to the northeast.

This image from NASA's Dawn spacecraft shows dark material at impact craters, up to 12.5 miles-wide (20 kilometer-wide) and sets of worm-like tracks in the north-south direction.

The floor of the crater at the top of this image from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft is completely covered by a large sand sheet with surface dune forms. Now that is it near the end of northern spring all the frost has disappeared from the sand.

THEMIS Images as Art #11

Buried Craters of Utopia

THEMIS Images as Art #30

Peak and a Half

This MOC image shows a light-toned wind streak created in the -- the downwind side -- of an impact crater in the Cyane Fossae region of Mars

1997 Lava Flows Near Pillan Patera, Io

This perspective view of Cornelia crater on the giant asteroid Vesta shows an example of 'pitted terrain,' an unexpected discovery in data returned by NASA's Dawn mission.

These images from NASA's Dawn spacecraft are located in asteroid Vesta's Numisia quadrangle, southern hemisphere; layers can be seen slumping towards the crater's center and there is slightly brighter material overlying slightly less bright material.

Cerberus Fissure by Mars Odyssey

Grooved Herschel Dunes

Matabei's Unusual Dark Rays

Daedalia Streak

Buried Crater

This anaglyph, from NASA's Shuttle Radar Topography Mission, shows basalt cliffs along the northwest edge of the Meseta de Somuncura plateau near Sierra Colorada, Argentina. 3D glasses are necessary to view this image.

Some of the weirdest and least-understood landscapes on Mars are on the floor of the deep Hellas impact basin. MRO.

Yardangs in Aeolis

Streamlined Island

This image from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows more north polar dunes. If you compare multiple dune images, you will see that the dunes can take different forms and cover different amounts of the plains.

This MOC image shows narrow channel on the upper east flank of the martian volcano, Hadriaca Patera. Located on a volcano, most likely this channel was formed by lava, perhaps as a lava tube at which the thin roof later collapsed

The Groovy Dunes of Herschel

Daedalia Planum Wind Streaks

This image shows the margin of a lava flow on a plain northwest of Jovis Tholus, a volcanic construct located in the Tharsis region of Mars

This MOC image shows a bowl-shaped crater on the martian northern plains with a mysterious radiant pattern of zones with and without boulders and rocks

Reull Vallis Floor

$This simulated perspective view shows Occator Crater, measuring 57 miles (92 kilometers) across and 2.5 miles (4 kilometers) deep, which contains the brightest area on Ceres. This region has been the subject of intense interest since Dawn's approach to the dwarf planet in early 2015. This view, which faces north, was made using images from Dawn's low-altitude mapping orbit, 240 miles (385 kilometers) above Ceres. Dawn's close-up view reveals a dome in a smooth-walled pit in the bright center of the crater. Numerous linear features and fractures crisscross the top and flanks of this dome. Prominent fractures also surround the dome and run through smaller, bright regions found within the crater. The central dome area is called Cerealia Facula and the dimmer bright areas are called Vinalia Faculae.$

Trough in Tempe

These images from NASA's Dawn spacecraft are located in Tuccia quadrangle, in Vesta's southern hemisphere.

Sirenum Fossae Troughs

The linear depressions at the top half of this VIS image are graben that are called Cerberus Fossae. Graben form where extensional tectonic forces allows blocks of material to subside between paired faults. Cerberus Fossae are located in Elysium Planitia, southeast of the Elysium Mons volcanic complex. This graben is also the source of significant liquid flows, which created Athabasca Valles. The actual formation liquid proposed include flood water, low viscosity lava, and even glaciers. It is possible that water and lava both played a role in creating the channel system. Orbit Number 78821 Latitude 10.1133 Longitude 157.297 Instrument VIS Captured 2019-09-21 10 33

The landslide deposit in this image captured by NASA's Mars Odyssey is located in shallow extension of Tithonium Chasma, in the western part of Valles Marineris.

Exhumed Craters near Kaiser

San Andreas-sized Strike-slip Fault on Europa

Lava Flows in Tharsis

High-Resolution MOC Image of Phobos' Stickney Crater

A distinctive 'pitted terrain' observed by NASA's Dawn mission on asteroid Vesta has also been seen on Mars. The morphologies of pits are similar on both bodies, with irregular shapes and sharp angles where pits share walls.

Major Martian Volcanoes from MOLA - Olympus Mons

In a Different Light

This daytime infrared image taken by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows the numerous small channels that comprise Mangala Valles.

Inky Stains on a Frozen Moon

North Nilosyrtis Mensae

B722023-2 U12G Fast Gate Parts C. Gulick (Project Engineer) Dec 13 72 EG&G/NTS PHOTO LAB Publication Date: 12/13/1972 DEBRIS; EDGERTON, GERMESHAUSEN & GRIER; EG&G; GATES; MEASUREMENT; METALS; NEVADA; NEVADA TEST SITE; NTS; NUCLEAR ENERGY TECHNOLOGY; NUCLEAR EXPLOSIONS; NUCLEAR TESTING; NUCLEAR TESTS; PARTS; RUBBLE; RULER; TEST SITES; UGT; UNDERGROUND TESTING; FAST GATE PARTS historical images. 1972 - 2012. Department of Energy. National Nuclear Security Administration. Photographs Related to Nuclear Weapons Testing at the Nevada Test Site.

Exhuming Landforms

These views from NASA's Cassini Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) present a side-by-side comparisons of a traditional view and one made using a new technique called despeckling for handling electronic noise that results in clearer views of Titan's surface.

View of lunar farside with craters Goclenius (far left), Gutenberg D (bottom center), and three clustered craters Magelhaens, Magelhaens A, and Colombo A, as photographed from Apollo 8 spacecraft, Johnson Space Center, NASA , December 24, 1968

This observation was originally intended to image the contact between two terrain types a rocky ridge separates the rugged left from the smoother right side. But during planning, a targeting specialist chose to extend the image further north (to the top), to capture a nearby crater. (Extending images for some extra coverage is common practice when data volume allows.) That extension has given us a bonus beauty! The steep walls of the crater are covered with slope streaks formed by material falling down towards the crater's center. There are so many in this case that the crater is reminiscent of a delicate dandelion clock. Looking closer, we can also see that the exposed layering gives us more information about the subsurface of Mars.

NASA's Curiosity rover and its parachute were spotted by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter as Curiosity descended to the surface on Aug. 5 PDT (Aug. 6 EDT). Curiosity and its parachute are in the center of the white box.

Opportunity Slices into the Surface of Mars

Enceladus Rev 91 Flyby - Skeet Shoot #1

Small, Bouldery Crater

Studying what happened when tells geologists about the history of Mars. A crater that punched through the surface of Mars reveals multiple layers formed previously below the surface. Half of the crater was then destroyed by the opening of the channel. Small craters pepper the ejecta blanket of the larger crater but a few are visible in the channel, another clue to its younger age. The most recent signs of activity are the boulders that have tumbled down the sides of the channel.

First HiRISE Image of Mars

'RAT' Hole on 'Pilbara' (post-RAT)

Intracrater Dune Field

AS14-64-9129 (6 Feb. 1971) --- The two moon-exploring crew men of the Apollo 14 lunar landing mission, photographed and collected the large rock pictured just above the exact center of this picture. (Hold picture with the NASA photographic number at lower right hand corner.) The rock, casting a shadow off to the left, is lunar sample number 14321, referred to as a basketball-sized rock by newsmen and nicknamed "Big Bertha" by principal investigators. It lies between the wheel tracks made by the modular equipment transporter (MET) or rickshaw-type portable workbench. A few prints of the lunar overshoes of the crew members are at the left. This photo was made near the boulder field near the rim of Cone Crater.

Light and Dark Slope Streaks

The channel in this VIS image is part of Hebrus Vallis, located on the western margin of the Elysium volcanic complex.

Layers in 8N, 7W Crater

NASA's Curiosity rover found evidence for an ancient, flowing stream on Mars at a few sites, including a rock which the science team has named 'Hottah' after Hottah Lake in Canada's Northwest Territories. 3-D glasses are needed.

Each image on this High Resolution Stereo Camera Image Composite (HRSC) mosaic is of the same location observed by Dawn's Framing Camera when it flew by Mars to complete the spacecraft's gravity assist maneuver on February 17, 2009.

. Tycho Central Peak Spectacular

Spirit Lightens the Load

Slipher Crater: Fractured Moon in 3-D

The wall of Slipher crater is deformed by one of many scarps found in the lunar highlands.

Fretted Terrain Valleys

MGS MOC Image of Mars Exploration Rover, Spirit, on Mars

This MOC image shows a portion of a chain of pits on a lava- and dust-covered plain northwest of Tharsis Tholus, one of the many volcanic constructs in the Tharsis region of Mars

Schiaparelli Sedimentary Rocks

$Many fractures on the Moon are seen in the floors of ancient, flat-floored highlands craters in this image taken by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.$

This image shows comet Tempel 1 approximately 30 seconds before NASA's Deep Impact's probe smashed into its surface. It was taken by the probe's impactor targeting sensor.

Isidis Planitia

Meridiani Crater

Galileo's Last View of Tvashtar, Io

$One type of feature of scientific interest on the mountain inside Gale crater is exposure of cemented fractures, evidence that groundwater once reached to at least that height of the mountain. This image is from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.$

Scamander Vallis

Different Spokes

. From Low to High Channels. This image shows the transition from a regular channel to an inverted channel in Arabia Terra. The channel was once flowing with water that carved down into the bedrock to produce a depression. As the water flow slowed down, sediment became deposited within the channel that caused it to partially fill up. Over time, the landscape around the channel eroded away faster than the sediments within the channel, leaving behind a portion that now stands above the terrain, called an inverted channel. Why only one section of the channel is inverted while the rest is still a depression is unclear, but may reflect the local topography and hardness of the neighboring materials that only protected the channel in some places.

Context Camera Views an Impact Crater in Amazonis Planitia. This meteoroid impact crater on Mars was discovered using the black-and-white Context Camera aboard NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). The Context Camera took this image showing the impact, which occurred Dec. 24, 2021, in a region called Amazonis Planitia. Relying on data from the Mars Color Imager camera, also aboard MRO, along with seismic data from NASA's InSight lander, scientists were able to determine when this particular crater formed. Looking closely at the crater's rim, white specks could be detected that suggested the presence of water ice (which was later confirmed by MRO's High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment, or HiRISE, camera). Debris thrown during the impact can be seen reaching as far as 23 miles (37 kilometers) away. The disturbance seen in the surface suggests the meteoroid was traveling towards the northeast when it hit the ground, throwing the longest streaks of debris in that direction.

This MOC image shows the sinuous margin of a dust-covered, ridged lava flow in southern Daedalia Planum, Mars

Exhuming Craters in a Crater

This MOC image shows a ring marking the location of a nearly-filled, nearly-buried impact crater on the martian northern plains. Remnants of bright, seasonal frost occur in some polygonal cracks on the plain

The South Pole is receiving sun every day now as spring progresses. The surface texture visible in this image captured by NASA's Mars Odyssey was created by the effect of solar warming on the ice.

MOC View of Mars98 Landing Zone - 12/24/97

South Polar Layer Remnants

The pitted appearance of the south polar cap ice in this image from NASA's Mars Odyssey is similar to the appearance of a slice of swiss cheese.

A dune in the northern polar region of Mars shows significant changes between June 25, 2008 and May 21, 2010 in one of two images taken on by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.

Air photography revealing the city of Ur. The capital city of Mesopotamia, established around 2100 B.C was most famously excavated by Mr Leonard Wooley. Date: 28th July 1923

This illustration shows some of the final images used to determine that the coast is clear for NASA's New Horizons' flight through the Pluto system.

This daytime infrared image of Rabe Crater illustrates the warming effect of the sun on sand. The extensive sand sheet and dunes of Rabe crater appear bright in the infrared indicating they are warmer than the surrounding floor and plains materials.

Focus on Flatrock

angled view of the Giordano Bruno, Lunar crater, 2016. The height and sharpness of the rim are evident, as well as the crater floor's rolling hills and rugged nature.

Sand Dunes of Nili Patera, Syrtis Major

Sand Dunes in Wirtz Crater Seen By Mars Global Surveyor

These images from NASA's Dawn spacecraft are located in asteroid Vesta's Gegania quadrangle, a little south of Vesta's equator; boulders can be seen on the bottom side of the crater.

This anaglyph NASA's Shuttle Radar Topography Mission, shows the Haro and Kas Hills of the Kachchh region in western India. 3D glasses are necessary to view this image.

Syrtis Plain

Meridiani Planum Soil

On its fourth and final targeted flyby of Rhea, NASA's Cassini spacecraft provided this stunning view of the ancient and heavily cratered surface. Billions of years of impacts have sculpted Rhea's surface into the form we see today.

Melas Sedimentary Rocks

This Magellan full-resolution mosaic covers an area of Venus. The bright feature, slightly south of center is interpreted to be a volcano.

This image from NASA's Magellan spacecraft shows a complex crater with a circular rim, terraced walls, and central peaks.

This MOC image shows an array of gullies in the north-northwest wall of a crater in Terra Cimmeria

Kertész Shines Bright Like a Diamond

This still image from an animation shows the effects of weights from the entry vehicle of NASA's Curiosity rover hitting the surface of Mars.

Challenger Memorial Station, Meridiani Planum, Mars

This image captured by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows a sand sheet with a surface dune form, which partly surrounds the central peak of this unnamed crater near the north pole.

There is a circular feature in this observation from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft that appears to stand above the surrounding terrain. This feature is probably an inverted crater that was filled in with sediment.

Bright Channelized Lava Flows on Io

Jupiter's Belt-Zone Boundary in Near-Infrared and Violet Light

Ceraunius Tholus Feature

Caldera in Sippar Sulcus, Ganymede

On January 26, 2001, the Kachchh region in western India suffered the most deadly earthquake in India's history.

Work of the Wind

This is a radar image of Los Angeles, California, taken on October 2, 1994.

A Closer Look at Chaos on Europa

Map of Enceladus - December 2008

Small Impact Craters with Dark Ejecta Deposits

Dusty Collapse Pit

This map shows where NASA's Mars rover Curiosity landed in August 2012 at 'Bradbury Landing.' All of these features are inside Gale Crater. Curiosity's next major destination, the entry point to the base of Mount Sharp.

Endurance Road Map

This anaglyph NASA's Shuttle Radar Topography Mission, shows the city of Bhuj, India. 3D glasses are necessary to view this image.

Angular Unconformity

Cape Town and the Cape of Good Hope, South Africa, appear on the left (west) of this anaglyph from NASA's Shuttle Radar Topography Mission. 3D glasses are necessary to view this image.

Daedalia Streak

This image from an animation shows how repeated laser shots from the ChemCam instrument on NASA's Mars rover Curiosity cause a pit to form at the target point in Martian soil.

Derived Topographic Model from Mars Global Surveyor Instruments

Frontal section and crevasses of a glacier from an aerial view

Northern flank of Diophantus crater.

This anaglyph, acquired by NASA's Phoenix Lander on Jun. 8, 2008, shows a stereoscopic 3D view of the Martian surface near the lander. 3D glasses are necessary to view this image.

The northern and southern hemispheres of Enceladus are seen in these polar stereographic maps, mosaicked from the best-available NASA Cassini clear-filter images.

The eastern edge of Alpha Regio is shown in this image from NASA's Magellan spacecraft.

This anaglyph, acquired by NASA's Phoenix Lander on Jun. 19, 2008, shows a stereoscopic 3D view of the Martian surface near the lander. 3D glasses are necessary to view this image.

This anaglyph image, acquired by NASAs Phoenix Landers Surface Stereo Imager on June 1, 2008, shows a stereoscopic 3D view of the so-called 'Knave of Hearts' first-dig test area to the north of the lander. 3D glasses are necessary to view this image.

Map of Iapetus - January 2008

Enceladus Mosaic

Snow White Trench Dug by Phoenix

Impressions from Cassini

Ascraeus Mons

Four Mars Years of Change

This anaglyph, from NASA's Shuttle Radar Topography Mission, is of Mount Meru, an active volcano located just 70 kilometers (44 miles) west of Mount Kilimanjaro. 3D glasses are necessary to view this image.

ECOSTRESS, NASA's new Earth-observing mission aboard the International Space Station, detected three wildfires burning in the western US on July 28, 2018 -- the Carr and Whaleback fires in California, and the Perry Fire in Nevada. The fires can be seen in red in Figures 1 and 2. Zooming in on the two larger fires shows the heat data in more detail and also reveals the fires' thick smoke plumes. ECOSTRESS launched on June 29 as part of a SpaceX commercial resupply mission to the space station. Its primary mission is to measure surface temperatures to detect plant health; however, it can also detect other heat-related phenomenon like heat waves, volcanoes and wildfires. This is the first image of wildfires acquired from ECOSTRESS.

Details such as the shadow of the mast on NASA's Mars rover Curiosity appear in an image taken Aug. 17, 2012, by the HiRISE camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, from more directly overhead than previous HiRISE images of Curiosity.

Satellite View of Opportunity's Journey around Victoria

Fresh Impact Crater and Rays in Tharsis

Evidence for Recent Liquid Water on Mars: Clues Regarding the Relative Youth of Martian Gullies

This view from NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander shows a portion of the trench informally named 'Snow White,' with two holes near the top of the image. 3D glasses are necessary to view this image.

'Victoria' on Opportunity's Horizon (Orbital View)

MARCI Views a Mars Impact Crater in Amazonis Planitia. The Mars Color Imager (MARCI) camera aboard NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) captured this before-and-after comparison of a region of Mars called Amazonis Planitia, which was struck by a meteoroid on Dec. 24, 2021. The impact was so large that MARCI can view it from space. As MRO passes over the planet, MARCI takes linear images - essentially strips - of the planet's circumference each day. The images are then stitched together to create a daily global map of the planet, data that's typically used to monitor atmospheric changes and Martian weather.

S72-03145 (October 1972) --- A vertical view of the Apollo 17 Taurus-Littrow site with an overlay to illustrate the three planned Apollo 17 traverses using the Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV). The EVA-1 traverse has a single station (1); the EVA-2 traverse has four stations (2,3,4,5); and the EVA-3 traverse has five stations (6,7,8,9,10). Stations 10-A and 10-B are alternate locations for Station 10. In addition to the major stations mentioned above, brief stops are planned for sampling between stations using the LRV sampler tool (note diamond-shaped figures), and for deploying explosive charges associated with the Lunar Seismic Profiling Experiment (LSPE - note black x-marks).

NASA's Terra spacecraft captured this anaglyph image of Mt. St. Helens volcano in the Cascade Range of southwestern Washington; it erupted on 18 May 1980. 3D glasses are necessary to view this image.

NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity will spend its fifth Martian winter working at a location informally named 'Greeley Haven.' This image indicates the location of Greeley Haven on Cape York.

Happy Valentine's Day From Mars!