Oxidized iron dominates the Martian color palette. The dusty reds, ochers, browns and tans give the planet its nickname: the Red Planet. But new images of Mars’ south polar region show something different. Swirls of pink, purple and red highlight the region and a feature named Thyles Rupes, an icy crag with cliffs higher than 1 km (0.6 miles). Rupes means cliff in Latin, while Thyles is a mythical northern land spoken of in the ancient world.
The Red Planet has a purple side
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