A striking color-enhanced image of Mars shows an ancient, rocky hill in the planet’s Southern Highlands. The landscape appears to contain a broad range of colors, giving the terrain a rainbow-like appearance while highlighting subtle differences between its rocks.
The image was captured by the HiRISE camera aboard NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, which has studied the Martian surface, atmosphere and climate since entering orbit in March 2006.
The colors do not represent how the region would look to the human eye. Scientists enhance images in this way to make mineral variations easier to distinguish. Blue- and green-toned rocks could contain minerals such as pyroxenes and olivine, while yellow, orange and red areas may include minerals formed through past interactions with liquid water.
Studying these minerals allows researchers to investigate the history preserved in Martian bedrock. Their presence can indicate that water flowed across Mars in the distant past, offering clues about whether the planet once had conditions that could have been habitable.
Sources: Space.com.