New book from Aperture turns a telescopic lens on Mars

Date
15 May 2017

Is there life on mars? Well, if This is Mars, a new publication from Aperture is anything to go by – the jury’s still out. The book turns a HiROSE telescopic lens on the mysterious red planet via panoramic images captured by U.S Observation satellite known as Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter or MRO.

For the past 11 years, MRO has been photographically tracking Mars’ surface in high definition, illuminating the depths of the Velles Marineris canyons, the black dunes of Noachis Terra and the Olympus Mons volcano – our solar system’s highest peak. This Is Mars boasts a striking selection of 150 monochromatic abstract images which bridge art and science compiled by French publisher, designer, and editor Xavier Barral, an introduction by research scientist Alfred S. McEwen, an essay by astrophysicist Francis Rocard and a timeline of the red planet by geophysicist Nicolas Mangold.

Above

Valles Marineris, Hill of Bright Deposits, LAT: -12.7° LONG: 313.9° ; from This Is Mars (Aperture, 2017)

Above

Branch-like Forms on the Floor of the Antoniadi Crater, LAT: 21.4° LONG: 61.3° ; from This Is Mars (Aperture, 2017)

Above

Stratified, Sedimentary Buttes in the Region of Argyre, LAT: -49.8° LONG: 302.9° ; from This Is Mars (Aperture, 2017)

Above

Polar Region of the South, Fans and Polygons, LAT: -87.3° LONG: 168° ; from _This Is Mars (Aperture, 2017)

Above

High Region of the Polar North, Multiple Unconformities of Sedimentary Strata, LAT: 79.7° LONG: 23.4° ; from This Is Mars (Aperture, 2017)

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About the Author

Bryony Stone

Bryony joined It's Nice That as Deputy Editor in August 2016, following roles at Mother, Secret Cinema, LAW, Rollacoaster and Wonderland. She later became Acting Editor at It's Nice That, before leaving in late 2018.

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