Mars - Polygonal Patterned Ground
The Mars - Polygonal Patterned Ground print from the Radiance Series captures the geometric terrain sculpted by freezing and thawing cycles in the Martian soil.
Photographed by the HiRISE camera aboard NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter on 13 February 2010, the image reveals a network of interlocking polygons formed as ice-rich ground expanded and contracted through seasonal temperature changes. This patterned ground is a hallmark of Mars’s high northern latitudes, offering striking evidence of the planet’s frozen subsurface.
Polygonal terrain develops as thermal stresses cause the surface and near-surface layers to crack, widen, and refreeze. Water ice locked within the regolith drives this process, gradually shaping the regular, cell-like patterns visible here. Studying these formations helps scientists reconstruct Mars’s climate history, understand permafrost dynamics, and map the distribution of subsurface ice. Their strong resemblance to polygonal landscapes in Earth’s Arctic creates a tangible link between the two worlds and their shared cryogenic processes.
This print was created from raw HiRISE sensor data at full resolution and processed with care to preserve fine detail, tonal depth, and the granular texture of this unique terrain.
HiRISE - operating aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter since 2006 - provides imagery of Mars at sub-metre resolution, revolutionising the study of its surface, climate, and water history while revealing the planet’s dynamic present and frozen past.
Image: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona
Radiance Series
Radiance is our series devoted to image-born works — pictures made by light itself. Drawn from observatory archives and scientific instruments, these pieces begin as high-fidelity sensor images: Mars at meter-scale detail from HiRISE, deep-sky vistas from JWST and ESO/ESA observatories, wide-area surveys, and even terrestrial science—oceanic, geological and biological imagery—where structure and texture emerge directly from the data.
The craft is exacting. We source the highest-resolution originals, reconstruct large fields (for example, stitching complex Mars terrains), and make restrained, evidence-minded adjustments to reveal tone, micro-contrast and fine structure without losing the character of the capture. Each image is then prepared for print at generous sizes—profiled, proofed and tuned with our specialist UK printers—so dune morphologies, dust lanes, cloud bands, crystalline patterns and microscopic architectures resolve with quiet clarity.
Printed on museum-grade papers, Radiance presents planetary, earthly and microscopic worlds with archival discipline and a sense of presence you can stand in front of — photographs in the deepest sense: light recorded, honoured, and given room to breathe.
Printing & Materials
Our Radiance series is produced in collaboration with specialist fine-art printing partners using museum-grade 250 gsm archival giclée paper.
Each print is made to order with exceptional precision and colour accuracy, using pigment-based inks for long-term stability and rich tonal depth.
Prints are carefully rolled in acid-free tissue and shipped in rigid cardboard tubes to ensure they arrive in perfect condition, ready for framing.
All materials and processes are chosen for their longevity, texture, and fidelity to the original artwork, reflecting our commitment to quality and craft.