Free Astronomy Magazine November-December 2026

NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2026 Purple swirls on the Red Planet by ESA W e’re used to seeing pictures of Mars that are very different in colour to this berry- toned view, featuring tans, ochres, reds and browns – all caused by high levels of oxidised iron. But the planet is rich in other hues, as shown beautifully in this new image from the European Space Agency’s Mars Express. Taken by the spacecraft’s High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC), this image shows an icy, craggy fea- ture known as Thyles Rupes (‘rupes’ being latin for cliff and ‘Thyles’ referring to ‘Thule’, a legendary place beyond the edge of the known world in classi- T he above view was generated from the digital terrain model and the nadir and colour channels of the High Reso- lution Stereo Camera on ESA’s Mars Express. It shows a bird’s- eye view of Thyles Rupes, one of the most prominent cliff-faces in Mars’s ancient southern highlands. This cliff is both broken by and sits atop a variety of impact craters, as seen here, indicating that some craters are older and some younger than the cliff. The largest crater visible here, sitting to the right of the frame, is ancient, having been sliced through and partially covered by Thyles Rupes since its creation. The two smaller craters, which sit atop both this large crater and Thyles Rupes itself, are younger. [ESA/DLR/FU Berlin]