Starship Asterisk*

Why does the picture look so geometric? It can't be the resolution, since that's high enough…

Ah, yes, the black sand is merely the sand uncovered by the dust devils. The white thing seems to be a basin in the sand, which is why the black sand collected there: it blew in, and then didn't get out again because the basin offered shelter. Perhaps the basin was earlier hollowed out by the wind. ...

Well, this is going to cause some clutter, but oh well. sand slides? Strangely, What about gigantic dust devil marks as an explanation of the "canali" described by Secchi, Schiaparelli, Lowell? I thought the canali had been proven to be optical effects? Are those blue marks optical effects...

I know there's another thread about this, but I just have a question, and that question is likely to be ignored by people who merely enter that thread to give their opinion about the APOD. If you think this should be in the other thread, go ahead and merge the two. What's the blue thing on the photo...