A Giant Martian Cone Defies the Wind

Mars is seriously pretty. That shot, taken by the HiRISE camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, shows a towering cone-shaped hill in a sand dune field. First of all, just take a moment to think about that. This is a photo of a weird geological feature in the middle of a field of blowing dunes on another planet. That never, ever gets old. I love the feel of this photo. The wind blows from the left, and flows around the unnamed dome. As it does, sand piles up on the windward side, and wraps around...