Blue Patches On The Red Planet, What's Really Up

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We all know Earth as a blue marble of a planet from space; but even on the Red Planet, you can see vivid blue splotches. On Mars, however, the blue patches aren't oceans. The European Space Agency (ESA) explains that the blue areas we see are created by incredibly strong winds and the way they appear on the planet's craggy surface.

Just like on Earth, wind shapes the terrain over time. The wind creates jagged, rocky areas, craters, and dunes. But on Mars the strong winds of up to 100 kilometers per hour stir sand and basalt-rich dust into gigantic storms over massive sections of the planet. Some of these storms persist over the course of weeks, whipping past the formerly active volcanos of the planet.

This image, released by the ESA, shows a portion of the cratered Arabia Terra region. These craters show various levels of erosion-some with the sharp edges of recent impacts and others worn smooth over time. The images, taken from ESA's Mars Express orbiter, the region's largest crater which also has the steepest rim.

The blue part inside the crater looks like water, but instead is an optical illusion created by the whipping of winds over layers of sediments. As the near-hurricane level winds move the dust, small portions of volcanic dust form deposits inside the craters; these areas are what appear to be blue.

Clearly, Mars weather is a major force to be reckoned with.