: , Log in Email Password Remember me Your login is case sensitive I have forgotten my password Register now Activate my subscription Institutional login Athens login close My New Scientist Home News In-Depth Articles Blogs Opinion TV Galleries Topic Guides Last Word Subscribe Dating Look for Science Jobs SPACE TECH ENVIRONMENT HEALTH LIFE PHYSICS MATH SCIENCE IN SOCIETY Cookies Privacy The Blue Planet Martian crater is blue , not red 17:20 22 June 2012 Picture of the Day Space Caroline Morley , online picture researcher Image : NASA JPL-Caltech University of Arizona Detail of an Old Master oil painting , a close-up of a copper-rich mineral , or the vivid colours of a paua shell The image is in fact the surface of an alien world : an enhanced-colour image taken by the Mars Reconnaissance